Dead Fish (2005)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Purely Joyful Movie!

Absolutely Fantastic

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

There's a minefield of British gangster flicks out there, riding the colourful wake of Guy Ritchie's output, and similar fare. Some are solid, and some blow up in your face with mediocrity when you come across them. Dead Fish falls somewhat in between those two reactions. On the one hand, it's slick, visually adept, well casted and for the most part acted and knows how to set up a stylized scene. On the other hand, parts of it are silly, incongruent to the piece as a whole and kind of.. crappy. It's both a good bad movie and a bad good movie, and I know that doesn't give much of a concise picture or really tell you whether to watch it or not, but too bad, that was my conflicted reaction. Gary Oldman, in one of his last loopy performances before he reigned it in, plays Lynch, a lively assassin with an unstable personality. He jumps from contract to contract, until a beautiful girl (Elena Anaya) catches his eye, and he's struck with alarming and slightly creepy lovesickness for her. She's got an American boyfriend (Andrew Lee Potts, who almost brings the film toppling down with his shoddy acting) who is on the run from violent loan shark Danny Devine (Robert Carlyle, frothing at the mouth like a pissy little windup toy). Lynch collides with them all including Pott's stoner buddy (Jimi Mistry always looks like he needs to pee really bad and he's waiting for them to say "cut"). It's not super clear what Oldman's character objective is besides going off on a freaky bi-polar tangent as he pursues his perceived dream girl and seems ready to forsake the high paying hit-man job he seems so comfortable in. Nevertheless it's fun to see him run around shooting people and being a mental head, and no one can do that like our Gary. The plot thickens, or rather becomes unintelligible, when two secret spy operatives are brought in by some agency to.. do...man I don't even know. Billy Zane is a weird loony toons caricature as Virgil, a stuffy old spook with a plummy upper crust accent and some... wardrobe issues. He's paired with Eastern European psycho Dragan (the always excellent Karel Roden) and the two literally spend their portion of the film bickering, cat fighting and squabbling, having actually no real interaction or function with the plot. Oh well, they're amusing if nothing else. There's also a brief appearance from Terence Stamp, who classes up the affair as Samuel Fish, a shady businessman with a vaguely coherent part to play in the madness. It's all very strange and seems assured that it knows what it's doing and where it's going, even if at times the audience has not a clue. On the plus side, this is the only film I can think of where you can behold Gary Oldman break out into a musical number whilst tied down by a 250 pound S&M hooker. Yikes. Keep your ears peeled for a sonic little score from Groove Armada as well.

It seemed like someone took the brown acid when they wrote this. It's a crazy wacky ride with a unique vision. If you want to see tremendous performances by Gary Oldman, Billy Zane and the rest of the cast - tune in. If you like something different and off the wall - tune in. If you sometimes laugh when others don't get it - tune in. If you only like mainstream movies - tune out. This is not a movie in the normal Hollywood box and indeed has little to do with the U.S. This is a must own - for those who collect brand new visions. Note for parents: brief topless scenes.To summarize - A mix-up leads to many lives connecting. It sounds like you've heard it before, but not like this. A Dynamic cast nails their parts seamlessly, and while the movie has moments of mediocrity it stands out as a movie to beat in excellence. This will not be for everyone. Steer clear if you only watch Hollywood blockbusters and dislike festival movies or unique screenplays. I must repeat that Billy Zane and Gary Oldman really show off their dynamic talent.

I Love Oldman, Stamp and Zane. They play their parts exceptionally well, however the film itself is still a lemon. If you love Oldman et AL, then do not watch this, it will ruin your opinion of them. AVOID.Oldman sold me on True Romance and Leon, then after all this time he does this, his ability cannot save this lemon of a film. Don't waste your rental money on this tripe. For those of you who rave about this film, were you watching the same film as me???The actors did their best but this was never going to get off the ground. Please let this die in peace and lets pretend Mr Oldman was never in this at all.

I should have known that it was about to suck when i read the words "A Movie just like snatch and lock, stock" on the DVD cover.The movie starts of funny (The first scene) but then slides worse and worse. It is a mix of badly thought up jokes and pointless killing (although i usually like that).The fact that the movie is all about a telephone switch.... Why not switch briefcases or so. (Never been done before) And could someone plz do something about the pot-smoking hippie. He is so annoying.We skipped chapters on the DVD, and still the movie was easy to follow. We missed the end (skipped one character too many and didn't even bother to go back).Save yourself the money and even more important the time and irritation.Don't watch.