Genre: Drama/Crime

Director: Rowan Woods

Certificate: Little Fish was rated 16 by the Irish Film Censor's Office (www.ifco.ie) i.e. suitable for those of 16 years of age or upwards.

Violence = moderate. Drugs = strong. Sex/Nudity = moderate. Language = strong.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: Little Fish

One of the joys of on-line DVD hiring is that you get movies you don't even remember adding - which can be a double edged sword but in this case Little Fish turned out to be one of the best films I've seen all year.

Cate Blanchett plays Tracy an ex-junkie who lives with her mum (Noni Hazelhurrst) and works in a local video store.  She is trying to raise enough money to buy the store but her credit history (she forged credit cards to finance her habit) means no bank will touch her.  Her brother Ray is still a small time drug dealer and she helps out Lionel (Hugo Weaving) a one time sports star reduced to a pathetic heroin addict.  Ray has only one leg - the result of a car crash 4 years earlier when Tracy's boyfriend Jonny (Dustin Nguyen) was driving - he fled to Canada but is back - apparently a successful stock-broker... but all is not what it seems... 

Superb performances all round - Blanchett again proves why she is the best in the business - trying to get her life back on track while supporting her friends but in doing so teeters on the brink of fragmentation and Hugo Weaving is remarkable - almost unrecognizable with thick goatee beard and receding hairline he plays Lionel as someone who desperately wants to get clean but isn't brave enough to face the pain.

Hazelhurst as the mum is also very good doing the best she can for her family and Sam Neill has a solid supporting role as the gay drug dealer whom they, in one way or another, have to deal with.  Although it’s set in Sydney it all takes place in Little Saigon, the Vietnamese district, which gives an interesting spin on things and another of the films pleasures is hearing all the cast speak in their original accents. 

Little Fish is a very powerful and haunting piece and well worth seeking out.

Reviewed by George Kaplan, Premier Movie Reviews 2006.

RELATED MOVIE REVIEWS:

CATE BLANCHETT: Bandits,  The Aviator,  The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring,  The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King,  Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers,  The Missing,  The Talented Mr. Ripley.

SAM NEILL: Jurassic Park III,  Wimbledon.

HUGO WEAVING: The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring,  The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King,  Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers,  The Matrix Reloaded,  The Matrix Revolutions.

Cate Blanchett

Sam Neill

Hugo Weaving

Martin Henderson

Noni Nazlehurst

Dustin Nguyen

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