Well, I just rented 'Cold Fish' from Blockbuster, being in the mood for something edgy and slightly disturbing. Did it live up to this promise? Well, not really. The first problem is the acting. From the outset, the standard is generally poor overall, however I found the characters of Jo (Alex, the lead's ex-junkie girlfriend) and Jon Henley (one of the baddies) the most distracting. Both actors are very wooden and their line delivery is very stilted; I started hoping Jo might go back on the drugs if it might deliver a bit of emotion in her performance! Other reviewers have criticised the lead actor Jon-Paul Gates (Alex), and, whilst it was hardly Oscar-winning, I didn't find him too off-putting.
The second problem was the supposedly shocking and edgy subject matter. Well, maybe I'm acclimatised to this sort of thing, but it seemed no more risky than watching the BBC evening news. Yes, they used archive clips of genuine executions and disasters; but these have been played a hundred times over already on TV and in documentaries, and their use in a film seemed nothing more than repetitive. By the end I was wondering what content was supposed to justify the 18 rating of the film.
Overall, the plot is interesting enough to sustain you for an hour and a half, and whilst the denouement is rather predictable, it's not that bad a film; just a bit lacking in places and severely restricted by the clearly very low budget.
The second problem was the supposedly shocking and edgy subject matter. Well, maybe I'm acclimatised to this sort of thing, but it seemed no more risky than watching the BBC evening news. Yes, they used archive clips of genuine executions and disasters; but these have been played a hundred times over already on TV and in documentaries, and their use in a film seemed nothing more than repetitive. By the end I was wondering what content was supposed to justify the 18 rating of the film.
Overall, the plot is interesting enough to sustain you for an hour and a half, and whilst the denouement is rather predictable, it's not that bad a film; just a bit lacking in places and severely restricted by the clearly very low budget.