BIG EYES (2014)

It's 1958. Margaret (Amy Adams), a painter and suburban housewife, packs up her and her daughter and leaves a controlling husband, relocating to San Francisco where she struggles, selling her work at street fares (all of her work featuring waif-like kids with oversized, sad-looking eyes) when she meets Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) trying to sell his fairly generic Parisian landscapes.  The two marry, and when Walter - a shameless promoter and salesman - tries to sell their work, it's only the big-eyed children people are interested in buying ... and soon Margaret learns he's taking credit for her paintings, ostensibly to get sales.  Based on their real-life story, for years Margaret would allow the deception as her husband gains international fame, and the film is an intriguing watch (Tim Burton doing a fine job directing).  One point off for Waltz's Austrian accent slipping out so much (Walter Keane was American), but he and Adams are wonderful in this tale of a very talented woman pushed into long-term silence by her shyster husband ... until she can take the guilt no more. (rated PG-13)  B+

BIG EYES trailer