Fish Tank (2009)
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Fish Tank Movie Review
Fish Tank is a 2009 British indie teem drama film directed by Andrea Arnold and starring Katie Jarvis and Michael Fassbender. It’s a very overrated flick.
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“Can you give Keeley a message for me?
Tell her I think her old man’s a cunt!“
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Mia is a rebellious teenager on the verge of being kicked out of school. Her hard-partying mother, Joanne neglects Mia’s welfare in favor of her own, and her younger sister hangs out with a much older crowd. Sparks fly between Mia and Connor, Joanne’s new boyfriend, and he encourages Mia to pursue her interest in dance. As the boundaries of the relationships become blurred, Mia and Joanne compete for Connor’s affection.
First and foremost, let me just say that just because a movie is gritty and incredibly realistic doesn’t make it great in any shape or form. That’s my main issue with this particular indie flick. Critics have pinpointed its apparent realism and praised it to pieces, but to me that doesn’t mean anything if the story is mediocre.
And this story surely is mediocre. It’s realistic to a fault as we follow Mia through her many very boring moments in life which are never cinematic in any capacity, and because she is a redneck as are all of her surrounding friends and family, the movie ended up being far from a charming slice-of-life tale, and more a look into annoying people and some even horrible ones.
Katie Jarvis is very strong as Mia. I have to admit that she gave a stupendous performance for a non-actor as they basically picked her from the streets for this particular role. And she delivered, making her character raw and real.
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Michael Fassbender is, well, Michael Fassbender here. And by that I mean that he plays an immensely archetypal early role for him where he is the object of affection by both of the film’s main women characters, and he’s portrayed as a sex god literally. But because he is unlikable as is the protagonist, their relationship was thus boring to follow, and all the more frustrating given the horribly inappropriate age gap and a mother triangle. It was just messy and frustrating in all the worst ways possible.
Fish Tank is also not that greatly shot, not that well directed by Andrea Arnold and overall realistic, but forgettable in its dialogue. The pacing is painfully slow, and the movie is very boring for its overlong runtime. It has some sweet moments here and there, but overall I was very bored.
Fish Tank certainly has its moments and it’s very well-acted across the board, but it’s also realistic to a fault as it’s an overlong drama that rarely goes to any meaningful places and it’s a chore to sit through. It’s an undeservedly praised indie film.
