Review of Fish Tank (2009) by Shani R — 30 Jul 2011

Not sure I liked the final direction of the movie, but what a great first 80 minutes. The next 40 minutes are somewhat less desirable, but a series of great performances and a gritty story make for a pretty good British drama.

Mia is a 15 year old girl. Taylor is her 7 year old sister. Both are the mouthy products of a smokin' hot mom who is little more than a child herself. Mom begins dating Connor (Fassbender), and he seems like a pretty good guy. The girls agree and both simmer down into half respectable people.

Jarvis is the lead as Mia. She's a pretty girl and really plays the part well...both the subtle dramatic parts and some nasty teenage stuff. Not going to look up the little girl, but what a mouth she has, delivering a great line early on to the new boyfriend...I like you...I'll kill you last. Ha ha a great line if delivered by an adult, but pretty awesome coming from a sevenish year old. The mom does a good job but is such a despicable/sad character that she's hardly worth noting minus an exception body (and the fact that she pulled off the undesirable traits quite well). Fassbender is great as Connor. He is a handsome mix of Matthew McConaughey/Bradley Cooper. One of my favorite men in any movie is the character played by Eduardo Verasegui in Bella. He's even more handsome and just a great character. For 80 minutes, Fassbender's character makes a run at the Bella character, but quickly falls off pace at precisely the 79th minute during a particularly hard fall from grace.

I like the grittiness. So many movies are off in la-la land where everyone has nice things. This is not the case in Fish Tank, where most of the characters live pretty rough lives and act accordingly. I also like the dysfunction. Blended in with a sometime brutal story are some great camera shots and great moments of poignancy. Though the story is pretty decent, the acting is stellar and makes for a worthy see for all.