Little Fish, Strange Pond

I will start this article by conceding some points. yes the film cover is very misleading both in showing what kind of film it is and who the main stars are. Yes the film is made by a porn director who has little experience outside that field although he has directed several episodes of OZ!

Every review I have read has hated this film. I think maybe people's opinion may be clouded because it was not the movie they expected when they purchased the DVD. This movie is full of original characters and clever story telling. The dialogue (although not as good) is very much in the Cohen brothers/ Tarantino style of talk for the sake of thought rather than plot development and although the story is quite interesting the film is more about getting you thinking or talking about the issues it raises. IE - what is wrong and what is right and why do these 2 opposing forces exist in the human psyche. This is an original film and should be viewed not as a comedy but as a chance to spend and hour and 10 minutes enjoying some unique characters and discuss a subject which is part of the make up for all our psyches and not as a slapstick comedy that will make you chuckle twice if your lucky. Enter this film with the correct expectations and you are in for a real treat.

The film does have a religious undertone but I do not feel it was trying to use religion as anything other than a means to discuss the way we battle with "right and wrong" in our own minds

Plain and simply Awful:

I rented this movie for a $1.07 and feel I've been robed. I don't usually do reviews but took the time to warn you: Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT watch this movie; if you value yourself and your time.

Bad dialogue pointless or almost non existing theme, it's not some sort of new art it's just a really bad movie with actors you may have seen before (agents should be punished literally like physical or standing in a corner for two weeks or something more creative than the movie itself and then fired for getting them these parts). It has nothing to do with being intellectual or understanding anything. It's just a really bad movie maybe good for a seminar on art school of what not to do as a director, writer, producer, camera operator, gaffer, grip etc....

I voted 1 because 0 is not an option. You've been warned...

I saw this titled as "Frenemy" but "Little Fish, Strange Pond" is a much better title. It's not just that Mr. Jack (Matthew Modine) and Sweet Stephan (Callum Blue) are small players in the grand schemes of the world, but that the world is a strange place.

Mr. Jack and Sweet Stephan walk around L.A. together. It's about the weird characters they meet, the crimes they observe, but ultimately, it's about them, their place in the world, their past and their fate. Paraphrasing from one of Modine's speeches, it was a great day, just a day, but it had the perfect mix of intrigue, danger, tragedy, love, sex, violence and plain old American fun.

There was more tragedy and violence, and less love and sex than most people would have in their perfect day, but it was brilliant. Forget "The Social Network", "Little Fish, Strange Pond" has the best dialogue of the year, and Matthew Modine and Callum Blue deliver the best performances of their careers. Be prepared for profanity and disturbing actions, but this is one great little film in a strange pond.

Mr. Jack (Matthew Modine) and Sweet Stephen (Callum Blue) travel the streets of L.A. pontificating on various subjects. They go to Bucky (Zach Galifianakis)'s porn shop to buy something special. The first one is free. Philly comes (Paul Adelstein) in to rob the porn store. Police detective Tommy (Adam Baldwin) shoots him in the head and rescues everybody. In his investigation, Tommy meets Norma (Liza Weil). Meanwhile the guys keep traveling.

Everybody is acting crazy. How crazy? Zach may be the least crazy one in the movie. It's all very wacky, random, and tiresome. In the only thing that truly matters, this is not funny. Quite frankly, the movie loses all the drive after it leaves the porn shop and Zach. If it stayed in the shop, I could see some interesting wacky things happening instead of the boring wacky things in this movie. Directed by Gregory Dark and written by Robert Dean Klein, I don't know anything about either guy and I don't see anything here to suggest anything good can be expected. This does try to be profound in the end but it's too little too late.

The name Frenemy provoked a giggle out of a friend when I recommended her this title. Agreed, it seems suggestive of a potential feel-good, teenage, Lindsay Lohan something- or-other. Rather, Frenemy can best be described as a dark and compassionate independent film.

Well acted, the characters, while capable of committing acts of depravity of American Psycho proportions, are relatable. Ultimately, this movie is about an overriding, self- sustaining, predetermined balance of good and evil. There is something to be gained each time I watch this movie.

In the end, I'm left craving a sequel to see what becomes of Mr. Jack.