Review of Fish Tank (2009) by Stephen R — 28 Feb 2010

Really impressed with this. I haven't seen Arnold's feature debut, Red Road, but loved her short, Wasp, which finds echos here. Michael Fassbender is pretty great, but it is Katie Jarvis and the scene-stealing actress who plays her little sister (both of whom are apparently making their acting debuts) who imbue the whole production with its greatest asset -- authenticity. That authenticity takes a pretty big hit with a late-game, improbable, impulsive action by the protagonist that feels out-of-character to me, though I can see why Arnold did it. Regardless, she recovers admirably in the finale.

Arnold's use of Academy ratio was pretty inspired and completely appropriate. It's nice to see someone other than Gus Van Sant still using the 1.37 frame so well. She has some really beautiful compositions and shots that are impressive without calling attention to themselves.