claudecat I love Tom Waits' music, I think he himself is a very interesting personality, and I saw this at the height of my interest in him, back when it came out in theaters. Yet I actually thought there was too much Waits in this movie. The director seemed in love with Tom, to the point where I felt like all the other band members were ignored. I didn't think Tom's "character" was developed particularly well--nothing very interesting happened with it. So the film was, to me, an unhappy cross between a straight concert film and a fictional story with characters. If they were going to go with a fictional story, and have Tom play someone other than himself, I think they should have taken it much further.

MisterWhiplash Tom Waits is one of those handful that, to my possibly limited knowledge, appears to be a complete original; this doesn't mean he just sprang out of thin air (although it's not an explanation totally out of reason), but that whatever influences he's taken in- the Beats, Bob Dylan, Cole Porter, gypsy and blues and jazz and rockabilly- one can't distinguish really between one or the other. Like Kubrick or Hunter S. Thompson or Dostoyevsky, there's a totally distinct voice and creative force at work when looking at what they can deliver, and Big Time is an extremely welcome treat for those who are enthusiasts of the Waits's work, especially his 80's renaissance period. If you're new to Waits it's not exactly deterring as a feat to experience it, but it will be somewhat perplexing and bewildering and just flat out bizarre as a concert movie. For Waits fans, it's business as usual- or unusual as it happens.The method to the director Chris Helm's madness is to form a loose narrative around the concert Waits is performing in LA: there is a 'character', or one or two or three, that are watching or listening to this concert either from bed on New Year's Eve or from a ticket booth or from the heights of the top of an auditorium working the lights. This doesn't come off as possibly hackneyed or artsy as it might sound, on the contrary it works brilliantly into the stream-of-consciousness head-trip that the Waits concert is anyway (at one point, I believe during 'Innocent When You Dream', he sings while standing in a bathtub). And on top of this, the art direction, the cinematography and lighting, the stage set-up, everything about it blows the senses as complimentary fixtures amid the wild and sad and funny and quixotic stories Waits lays down in his songs.And the performance - this is key to how astonishing Big Time is. For everything that you think you might imagine Waits and his band do on the albums (in this case much, if not all, of the material comes from Frank's Wild Years, Swordfishtrombones, and very happily as a big-big fan Rain Dogs), Waits and his great-eclectic band accomplish, and no song sounds quite the same as on the album either, which is also a treat. Classic numbers like 'Rain Dogs', 'Gun Street Girl', 'Way Down' and 'Time' are performed with an immense heart and soul and bravura that maybe isn't as surprising for those who may have had the luck of seeing Waits live in concert. But the best news for fans, and for newcomers, is that Big Time captures what it's like, and of what those dark and sinister worlds are in the songs and even in Waits's own mind. It's like entering some sacred netherworld with Waits as tour guide and ringmaster and occasional joke teller amid his poetry (my favorite is his "oft-asked question" and answer involving if pregnancy is possible without intercourse!) A+

Jeffrey Jordan Big Time is magnificent,A live tour-de-force by one of America's greatest performers.It is a concert film of his Frank's Wild Years Tour circa 1987,but I am not certain it was filmed live in concert.Some performances,if not all,have a staged studio feel to them,but I'm probably wrong,and it does not matter anyway,as all the performances are truly excellent representations of his songs.There are little vignettes between each number,which are strange and entertaining.A gunshot sound is heard when it cuts from one thing to another,like in Masculine Feminine,Tom Waits appears in nearly all of the between songs vignettes.In one he is seen sitting on the floor of the theater's washrooms snapping playing cards into a hat on the floor several feet away from him,saying"She loves me,she loves me not" and "ooh!Got one-lost one"when a card falls off the hat onto the floor.Symbolizing the fall of the Italian socialist-communist regime.He is seen addressing the "audience" at times in his wonderful winning style of between-song-banter,which will either make you laugh out loud or at least smile real big.In one he is the usher,telling the viewer that you are late.And then wants to sell you a watch from his catalog displayed on his forearm.In another he is working the ticket booth (presumably taking over for the mysterious Oriental lady who was seen doing it earlier in the film,and who appears a few more times)fast asleep until the phone rings and he says blearily "I'm here!" and then starts buying and selling stocks and bonds.Please do not let any of this scare you off from seeing this film,I'm just a terrible reviewer.Instead of concentrating on this little stuff,I should be describing the important stuff,which is of course the music.I would like to list the songs performed,but I don't feel like searching through my clutter for the information.But I can tell you they are all culled from Swordfishtrombones,Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years,w/1 or 2 exceptions.It is a shame that it is so difficult to obtain a copy of this film.There are a lot of Waits fans out there doing without.I was extremely lucky to get my VHS copy.I ordered it from Blockbuster and 3 years later they called and said it was there.40 miles away.It was well worth it.If you are a fan of Waits,you owe it to yourself to obtain a copy somewhere,somehow of Big Time.It cries out to be released on DVD,just listen...be vewy vewy quiet..."release me"...hear that?

mcctw55 A must for any Tom Waits fan...but..."not for everyone." Waits is; strange, funny and a talented song writer, musician and actor. He sings, plays piano, and guitar over his all original material is this wild live show, with added video...I first heard him in 1979 on a college radio station, he's not top 40 material. I think he is great...read the lyrics to his song "Cold Cold Ground" and maybe you'll see what I mean. Most people can't get beyond his gravel-like voice, but those who can will know what a great poet/artist he is...usually musicians. It's a shame this is not been made available in DVD. It is out of print on VHS. I bought a used VHS of this concert/movie on ebay for around $30. I suggest buying a Waits CD like "Rain Dogs", or "Franks Wild Years"...or watching him act in "Down By Law, or "Iron Weed" before viewing this. You'll like him, or you won't. I believe Tom Waits is an American original...one of a kind.