Film Reviews

Little Fish

• Rating:
• Director: Rowan Woods
• Starring: Cate Blanchett
• Details: Australia, 114mins, 15.

After spending the last four years coming to terms with her heroin addiction and redeeming herself in her mother's eyes, 32-year-old Tracy Heart (Blanchett) plans to go into business for herself by expanding the DVD store she works in to incorporate an online gaming shop. But with the criminal aspirations of her brother Ray (Henderson) and the return of ex-boyfriend and drug dealer Jonny (Dustin Nguyen), Tracy finds it hard to escape her previous rough lifestyle. Meanwhile, drug kingpin Brad (Neill) fuels family friend, and former football star turned junkie, Lionel's (Weaving) own private addiction.
Screenwriter William Goldman (The Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, All The President's Men) once stated that a script should have a surprise on every page and that's exactly what The Secret Life Of Us writer Jacqueline Perske has done with Little Fish. This in-depth study of a dysfunctional family and close friends has so many twists and turns - character wise - it's like grabbing a bite to eat with the in-laws only for the dam that was holding years of emotional turmoil and turbulent history back, suddenly break out all over the dinner table. But as most films would make any number of these tiny episodes films in their right, Perske and director Rowan Woods use them to give their characters such profundity and to weave an intricate and original story. One example is the almost throwaway remarke when Lionel explains that he hasn't been to the beach in years because the needle marks on his arms would be too obvious. The acting is so above par, you forget that you are watching actors on the screen; Blanchett has never being better as the ambitious but unsure Tracy; Weaving, almost unrecognisable here, practically reinvents himself as the down-and-out junkie, playing a character that couldn't be further from his Lord Of The Rings, Matrix or Vendetta roles and Neill takes a generous back seat as the cold, nonchalant drug dealer. Little Fish unfolds beautifully and patiently, giving the viewer hits of excitement when least expected.

Review by Gavin Burke