By

Big Eyes

A restrained but thought-provoking look at art

Back in the ’60s, Walter Keane’s (Christoph Waltz) schlocky portraits of big-eyed waifs were a craze in the art world (represented by a sneering Terence Stamp). Keane was a major artist, to be sure, but of the “con” school—because he never painted anything; that chore went to his wife, Margaret (Amy Adams).

She was complicit in the deception, having been convinced by her sly husband that art by women would never sell. It’s restrained for a Tim Burton film, though topped off by a rousing courtroom scene and woven into the narrative is a thought-provoking argument on art vs. commercialism. (100 min)