I'm Reed Fish

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Alexis Bledel, Schuyler Fisk, A.J. Cook, Shiri Appleby, DJ Qualls, Chris Parnell
Directed by: Zackary Adler
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Reed Fish (Jay Baruchel) is preparing to marry Kate (Alexis Bledel), but finds his life slowly unravel when his ex-girlfriend Jill (Schuyler Fisk) returns home from college, causing him to rethink his priorities.

Review:

Tim: This is an ambitious little movie that tells a far more convincing story than I was prepared to watch. I expected this to be a quirky little, forgettable independent movie. However, the film makes more of an impact than I expected, telling its story in a surprisingly unique way. I really liked the idea of the film being about a young man making his own movie about the events. This might sound confusing here, but it makes much more sense on screen.

The cast is fairly good. I wasn't completely blown away by Jay Baruchel, but he is at least serviceable as Reed Fish. I am willing to bet this was one of his first starring vehicles, and I felt like he buckled a bit under the pressure of having the movie be mostly about him. Still, he does have some strong moments, and I didn't mind him too much. Alexis Bledel was good as well, but she is given far too little screen time. I wish she had more to do, because I think this movie would have been better with a larger role for her. I actually really liked Schuyler Fisk in this film. Like the rest of the cast, she has her ups and downs, but her ups are better than her other cast members. She is involved in perhaps the best scene in the entire movie, her singing of "From Where I'm Standing." This song is incredible and she sings it brilliantly. I also liked Shiri Appleby, but I wish she had more to do as well. The cast is good, but I think they would have been more effective had their screen time been shifted around a little.

The movie does feature one surprising twist that I did not see coming. At first, I was a little confused, but I thought it was a brilliant shift in the storytelling structure, making the movie quite unique. This was one of the strongest aspects of the film. I do think this could have been done even better with more of an impact, but it is still fairly effective.

I'm Reed Fish is an interesting little movie that manages to be fairly entertaining. It felt a bit like a first-time effort from many of the players involved (it wasn't, but none of the cast or director has a great deal of experience). Still, even in its inherent flaws, there are a few flashes of brilliance. For that reason, I enjoyed this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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