Another Failed Direct to DVD Independent Ego Trip

Little Fish (2.5/5 stars)

Little Fish, set in Australia, is the story of a video clerk played by Cate Blanchett. It takes nearly an hour into the movie to find out that she herself is a recovering drug addict and most of the people she interacts with are either addicts, dealers, or in recovery. The next part of the movie deals with her efforts to secure money for a business for which she has, due to her past, failed to get a bank loan.

What is it with people in the movie business and completely vapid vanity projects? Did Cate Blanchett decide "oh, I want to be in this super independent movie and play a recovering drug addict!" I wondered the same thing about Bubble, which was had a similarly dull plotline, similarly dull characters, and is a similar waste of time.

Despite the fact that the direction is at time okay and the acting by Blanchett, Hugo Weaving (The Matrix trilogy, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, V for Vendetta), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) and others is up to par, the story is just so bland they simply have absolutely nothing to work with. Perhaps this one went straight to DVD not as a gimmick like Bubble, but simply because it did not have much to offer. In any case I'm glad I didn't see it in the theater, because again rottentomatoes.com has failed me with a false positive rating.