Tim Burton began his illustrious Hollywood career as an animator for Disney, working on wholesome family fare including The Fox And The Hound.

However, from the moment he nestled into the director's chair for 1985 comedy Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Burton forged a distinctive path that resolutely defied convention and fashionability.

His visually arresting interpretations of Batman, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Alice In Wonderland revelled in the darkness coursing beneath the glossy surface of each well-known story.

Occasionally, his offbeat sensibilities have upended a blockbuster script like his abortive 2001 remake of Planet Of The Apes but even when he falters, Burton has remained true to himself.

Given his penchant for the macabre and melancholic, the Californian filmmaker is a snug fit for this biopic of artist Margaret Keane, who famously took her husband to court in 1986 to prove he was a fraud.

She alleged that her spouse's phenomenally popular paintings of waifs with unnaturally large eyes were actually created by her and she had foolishly allowed him to steal her thunder.

The film begins in 1958 California with Margaret Hawkins (Amy Adam) leaving her husband "before it became the fashionable thing to do" with young daughter Jane (Delaney Raye) in tow.

They settle in San Francisco where Margaret's spooky pictures of street children catch the eye of fellow painter Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz).

She falls under his spell and they marry to ensure Margaret won't lose custody of Jane.

Local gallery owner Ruben (Jason Schwartzman) doesn't rate Margaret's work - "Clear out the clutter before the Taste Police arrive!" he snipes - but her haunting depictions of children with over-sized eyes become an unexpected sensation.

Fame-hungry Walter persuades Margaret to let him claim ownership since he has the showmanship to promote the Keane brand.

While Margaret toils night and day in her studio, Walter enjoys the trappings of celebrity.

However, not everyone is seduced by Walter, including revered critic John Canaday (Terence Stamp), who despairs at the column inches devoted to this talentless self-publicist.

"He is like the Hula Hoop - he won't go away!" laments Canaday.

Truth is more bizarre than fiction in Big Eyes but Burton's handsome dramatisation of the Keanes' romance and subsequent legal wranglings is infuriatingly light on fine detail.

It's difficult to understand why Margaret agrees to the deception when she is strong enough to leave her first husband or tell Walter plainly, "The more you lie, the smaller you seem."

Adams delivers another solid performance while Waltz tempers his usual scenery-chewing apart from the climactic trial when his accused man mounts a legal defence based on everything he has seen on Columbo.

Period detail is splendid but quirky style overrides emotion.

We're cast adrift from the misfit characters and for once, Burton seems incapable of throwing us a lifeline.