Big Eyes

If you haven’t heard of Margaret Keane, there are some folks who’d rather keep it that way. Fortunately, that group doesn’t include the makers of Big Eyes, an amusing biopic that examines the age-old relationship between art and commerce.

She was an unlikely pop-art pioneer during her heyday in the 1950s, whose prolific paintings of children with unusually large eyes became popular with the masses even as they were shunned by critics for being pedantic.

“Eyes are the window to the soul,” Margaret (Amy Adams) explains as the reasoning behind her creations, which aren’t selling well at a San Francisco art fair when she meets Walter (Christoph Waltz), who’s likewise struggling to peddle his paintings of Parisian streetscapes.

The single mother is drawn by his charm, but doesn’t realize, until after they are married, the truth behind his artwork. They pool their resources in trying to market their work (setting up shop next to the restrooms at a nightclub), but once Margaret’s paintings develop a following and his don’t, Walter swoops in to take credit, claiming the big-eyed waifs as his own.

She reluctantly plays along with his fraudulent scheme because of the fame and fortune it generates for Walter. But eventually, the lack of recognition for Margaret predictably strains the relationship, and as Walter becomes more possessive, things deteriorate even further.

Just quirky enough to suit the tastes of veteran director Tim Burton, the film is a visual valentine to 1950s San Francisco with a vibrant color palette that seems appropriate for a movie about art.

Although it’s intended more as a crowd-pleaser than a thought-provoker, the screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood) presents some intriguing ethical dilemmas, such as the balance between commercialism and creativity in the art world. The film also examines gender roles and artistic integrity within its period setting.

It’s well acted by both leads yet doesn’t offer much insight into Keane’s artistic process other than her prolific work habits. Still, even if it feels sketchy as a character portrait, Big Eyes gives us the equivalent of something to hang on the wall without thinking too much, and that’s a fitting tribute.

Rated PG-13, 105 minutes.