Fishbowl

This is one of the best films I've seen all year, and I view at least one movie daily.

To think how little was spent making "Fishbowl" is a reminder it really does come down to the writing. Yes, direction and acting are vital to be sure. Nonetheless, a story has to have good bones to soar above the rest.

This little movie really delivers! Yes, it's flawed. Yes, it could have been edited with a bit more finesse, and tightened a tad for time. Yes, some of the supporting actors were weak (although every major player was top-notch).

But this is an unforgettable story, well told.

The plot's already been explained, so I won't reiterate here. Just put it on, sit back and let it take you on its journey.

RECOMMENDED.

A seemingly very religious man with three daughters, living in a small christian village struggles with life after his wife's death and the repossession of his house by the bank. The community hates him for his past, his church wants him gone. His youngest daughter struggles with mean remarks at school. His daughters are obviously less religious than he is, and cope with their mom's death in other ways. After vivid ominous dreams, he turns to scripture in desperation, seeking redemption and forgiveness in every way possible, eventually falling into the hands of a TV-preacher that foretells the end of the world but actually scams him out of his last money with a box of flyers, buttons and a VHS-tape full of empty words. His daughters have no other option then to follow in his last desperate attempt to reunite them with his wife, their mother.

As the movie progresses, it becomes clear why nobody likes him anymore. Little hints are given and the dreadful event that took the life of his wife, who seemed to be loved and liked by everyone. Even though the movie is fictional, the problems that the man has are the problems of many. Too many... and in this case, the worst possible happens and there is no turning back nor apologizing. In the end, you also realize that he will not nor ever can change.

Top notch drama, very well told, very well filmed and very recognizable theme.

This is a beautifully filmed movie about a family tragedy unfolding in a small judgmental town (hence the title). Although tragic, the three sisters remained loyal and supportive of one another and surprisingly to a father with an irrational paranoid parenting style. As other reviewers mentioned, the dialog is sparse, but the creative evocative imagery moves along the dual story lines of a missing mother mystery and preparing for the end of the world.

We thoroughly enjoyed this movie recommend you take a watch.

It's a really engaging drama about a family falling apart because of the mother's death. 3 girls who attend a Catholic school have to deal with their father's depressed mental state, worsened by his growing religious obsession with a televangelist cult which he joins as a last ditch attempt at fixing things. The feeling of everything falling apart is prevailing throughout the entire movie. I didn't quite get the ending, it was all built on implications, but it was clear enough to make assumptions. I felt engaged in what's happening to the characters and felt their emotions. It's a nice, if only pretty depressing, movie.

The film felt a lot longer than its 90 minute runtime, and not in a good way. The acting was ok by most of the cast, there were a couple of pretty terrible performances though, but the problem for me was that in this drama none of the characters felt like real people, and I put that down not to the acting but to the writing and directing. I suggest you watch the trailer, and if you do watch it you'll see lots of shots that look like they could be straight out of a commercial for a clothing brand or something with people being filmed in slow motion while posing, this is what a lot of the film is like and it didn't work for me at all. There's almost a surreal dreamlike feel to the look of the film that detracts from the story it's trying to tell, and at the end of the day the story they're telling is a very simple one, but when none of the characters or the situations they're in feel real it makes it very hard to care about anything that's happening to them.

I would not recommend this film as one worth watching and I would not watch another film directed by this directing duo.