For his 17th feature film, Tim Burton – director of larger-than-life hits like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland and Batman – returns to smaller dramatic fare for what is only his second fact-based film (after 1994’s Ed Wood), but with a story that is no less fantastical.

Big Eyes tells the bizarre true tale of Margaret Keane (Adams), an artist who finally finds her niche with paintings in which the subjects all have sad, haunting, abnormally large eyes. Before she can stake her claim to fame, however, her wily husband Walter (Waltz) takes complete credit for her work, and in the process pioneers the first ever system of mass art reproduction. Soon, the Big Eyes paintings are on walls all across America, and Walter – who has single-handedly commercialised the art form – is filthy rich.

Eventually tiring of submissively churning out paintings en masse for Walter from her sweatshop-like studio, Margaret makes the decision to take her increasingly megalomaniacal husband to court. The ensuing true-artist-versus-con-artist battle was particularly notable as this all took place in the early ’60s, when copyright and ownership laws were far from established, and women’s rights even less so.

With Big Eyes, Tim Burton has made a film that is part fascinating biopic, part thought-provoking social commentary, and altogether an utterly enjoyable delight. It’s a refreshing change of pace for Burton who, himself an accomplished artist, clearly holds the subject close to his heart. His leads do excellent work too, with Waltz having a blast and Adams delivering a nuanced performance that makes for another impressive addition to her already-stellar filmography.