I'm Reed Fish

I'm Reed Fish (Zackary Adler, 2007) [4]

The only element I really liked about this film is the setting; not the way the town of Mud Meadows is portrayed but the physical setting seems like a nice place to live. Nothing in this film is that strong: the characters are thin and dull, the story is lackluster, and the ways screenwriter Reed Fish and Adler try to spice it up are superficial. Besides putting your name in title , the whole film-within-a-film aspect feels pandering to sophisticated film goers and critics. Average film goers may see it as clever but it really doesn't make much sense in the world of the film. It allows Fish to have a somewhat interesting twist in regards to his two main female characters but I'm still not buying its usefulness. With the exception of Schuyler Fisk's performance at times, nobody else does anything impressive in this film. Some reviews I've read state it's hard to believe Jay Baruchel's character is in the middle of these two women because of his physical appearance. I feel that's a shallow observation; I happen to like Baruchel as an actor, especially in Undeclared. What I do have a problem with the character he plays is that the character of Reed Fish is constantly sabotaging himself with both relationships. This allows him to perpetually wade in a pool of self-pity which the film tries to mask as melancholy which I'm not buying. Alexis Bledel doesn't do anything to break away from the rigid box that Gilmore Girls has placed on her acting. Overall, these characters and the film itself are completely dull with the exception of brief instances. There's nothing that Fish the writer and Adler can do from dragging the film out of the hole it dug for itself by trying too hard to be cute and clever.