This film was released on Friday 2nd January 2015.

Reunited with screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who scripted the inspired biopic Ed Wood, Tim Burton has delivered his best and most vital film for years. It tells the true story of the artists Margaret and Walter Keane, who, in the 1960s, mass produced works depicting waifs with dark, haunting eyes that were hugely popular around the world, much to the bafflement and disdain of the snobbish art world. Walter claimed responsibility for the work, but it was Margaret who was making it.

Walter, portrayed with relish by Christoph Waltz, is depicted as a gifted hawker and huckster, keen to exploit any opportunity to sell the pictures and himself, so caught up in his deceit that he loses sight of truth and decency. Amy Adams gives a wonderfully subtle performance as Margaret, initially too timid and damaged to do anything other than go along with Walter’s lie before she finds the strength to confront it. (Notes by Michael Hayden.)

★★★★ The Irish Times ★★★★ Movies.ie