“Fish Tank” resembles “An Education” in that a restless teenage girl takes up with an unreliable older man. However, that’s as far as the comparison goes. “Fish Tank” features an angry, alienated Mia (Katie Jarvis), who is at war with everyone, including herself. Much of what happens in this story is typical of teenage rebellion and there’s not much story here. Yes, Mia’s mother, drunken and promiscuous, does not provide any support. Yes, Mia lives in the British equivalence of the projects. Yes, Mia has one passion, dancing. Unfortunately, writer/director Andrea Arnold doesn’t get Mia to reveal much more so the film, despite some potential and a few gripping scenes, is ultimately tedious and annoying.
Perhaps the biggest problem is casting Jarvis, who had no previous acting (or dancing) experience. Jarvis brings realism to Mia, but she’s not acting. Lee Daniels, who directed “Precious,” recently explained that he auditioned any number of young women to play Precious, many who lived Precious’ life. He wanted, instead, someone who could act, someone who could provide clearly defined character traits for the audience to understand and sympathize with. Although “Fish Tank” is an earnest character study of a fifteen year old, there’s not enough there for the average filmgoer to find enjoyable or worth spending 2 hours with Mia. 1/31/10
1 comment:
We went to the Laemmle Theater to see this English flick and we would have been better off staying home and watching NCIS. This fragmented film was going in a lot of different directions and I expected it to all come together at some point but it never did. Mia just packed up her things and left and the movie was over. ?????????
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