Big Eyes

This film should actually be called Big, Crazy Eyes.
Amy Adams shines as Margaret Ulbrich Keane, a determined woman leaving her suffocating husband only to marry someone much worse. She is an artist who finds a job painting baby furniture and exhibits her paintings at a local craft show, catching the eye of charmer Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) who paints scenes of Paris streets but they are not selling, despite his best efforts but he sees potential in Margaret's work. Then, a problem arises, Margaret's ex wants custody of Jane (first Delaney Raye and then Madeleine Arthur) so Walter proposes and Margaret accepts, much to the dismay of her good friend, Dee Ann (Krysten Ritter). Walter exhibits both his paintings along with Margaret's but he goes to the jazz cafe alone while she stays at home to paint and a simple misinterpretation launches Walter's scheme. People believe that the paintings are his and he goes along with it. Margaret is, at first, incredibly furious as she should be but then, goes along with his plan. And he becomes famous and few see through his lies, though he does say that he paints with oil when Margaret actually used acrylic. He is a charmer and has a natural way with people.
He becomes famous and thrives on all the attention. Margaret seems fine with staying in the background, even after discovering that his Paris scenes were also frauds, and she supports him through some of his crazy schemes. Like when a critic (Terence Stamp) thinks 'his' work is awful and he has a breakdown but this leads to Margaret leaving him. He is drunk and is furious at Margaret for embarrassing him in public and starts throwing matches at her and Jane, and nearly burns down their nice, fancy house.
She goes to Hawaii, though Jane is distant from her because of all the lies Margaret kept from her for all that time. Here, Margaret discovers religion in the form of Jehovah's Witness and decides that she is going to stop lying. Which leads her to sue Walter. The court scene is outrageous, with Walter representing himself but fortunately, the judge sees right through his lies and orders that they both paint, and Walter fakes a shoulder injury while Margaret paints one of her beautiful paintings and the judge rules in her favor, thank goodness. As the narrator, columnist Dick Nolan (Danny Huston) said, all Margaret wanted was her daughter and her paintings and, in the end, she got them both.
The acting is great, with Adams delivering top-notch work again, fulling deserving her Golden Globe nomination but I'm iffy on Waltz. He is just a creepy, cruel character, not even telling his wife of two years (at that time) that he had a daughter from his first marriage. He can't understand why Margaret is upset, after all, he put up with her daughter for all this time, causing shock waves in the audience and gasps. But Adam's face is like her paintings, the eyes are the window to her soul.
The set decoration is also great, truly looking like how San Francisco would look in the early 1960s.
This is a sad film, and a film of the times, when women were supposed to obey their husbands because they knew best, but fortunately, Margaret gets the last word. Walter would die penniless, Margaret will live on in people's memories. There are far more important films than this one, but this one is still great and the story needed to be told. Margaret shouldn't have gone along with the lie, but she did and regretted every minute of it as the paintings meant everything to her. This film probably also meant a lot to her. Grade: A-