As we make the transition from childhood to adulthood, the icons we whimsically idealized slowly fall from their pedestals: the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and, with a much deeper sadness, our parents. They are no longer infallible giants, but flawed human beings.

“Big Fish” is the story of one flawed parent’s particularly painful fall from grace and his last chance at redemption in the eyes of his son. Unfortunately, director Tim Burton’s latest visual marvel comes with several flaws of its own and collapses under the weight of too many flashbacks.

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As the film opens, Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) is dying and hasn’t spoken to his son in years. Spurred by the impending death of his father, William Bloom (Billy Crudup) returns home in a last-ditch attempt to reconcile with the man and his myth.

And what a myth it is. The elder Bloom has quite the penchant for exaggeration and has alternately wowed and annoyed his son for years with his grandiose tales of William’s birth, World War II heroics and, yes, one big fish.

While the dying Bloom relates his life story (or at least his version of it) to William’s wife (Marion Cotillard) through relentless flashbacks, his son sorts through a shed full of relics and visits some of the sites of his father’s seemingly unreal adventures in an effort to answer one question: Who is his father?

One problem. I didn’t care who his father was after spending time with these two completely unsympathetic characters. Crudup’s truth seeker comes off as an uncaring jerk and Finney’s portrayal of a tall tale teller (say that 10 times fast) left me wishing he would just shut up and die already. Ewan McGregor, who plays Edward Bloom in flashbacks, does an acceptable job of mimicking a younger Finney, but it’s more of an impersonation than a performance.

The film is based on a Daniel Wallace novel of the same name, which I have not read. Yet I have to believe the book did a better job of humanizing its characters and making them appear at least somewhat likeable. The flashbacks also probably are easier to handle when they’re not crammed one after another into a 125-minute movie.

That’s not to say the film doesn’t have some good qualities. Jessica Lange gives a striking performance as Ed Bloom’s wife. The love she has for this blowhard radiates in her eyes. The scene where she climbs, fully clothed, into the tub with her husband simultaneously proves to be the film’s most heartbreaking and endearing moment.

Burton, as always, captures some fantastic, beautiful and bizarre images, a scene where time literally stops as young Edward first glimpses his wife (played in flashbacks by the chameleon-like Alison Lohman) is perfect in encapsulating the feeling of love at first sight.

However, Burton has coasted way too long on his visual prowess at the expense of story and entertainment. Pretty pictures alone are not a reason to be bored out of your mind for two hours. “Big Fish” is a big downer of a movie.