July 17–24, 1997

movie shorts

Dream with the Fishes

recommended

This is a buddy movie for those of you who're too morose to admit you like buddy movies. Terry (David Arquette) is a withdrawn and depressed widower who's decided to end it all. Nick (Brad Hunt) is a feisty, two-bit thug with only weeks to live. They meet when Nick convinces Terry not to leap off a bridge, instead offering to trade him a bottle of sleeping pills for his watch. Of course, Terry recants on his death wish, learns about Nick's ailment and the two become fast friends. Together, they decide to live out their greatest fantasies, including bowling naked with prostitutes, shooting heroin in a motel room, dropping acid and getting tattoos. Sure, these scenarios come off as living on the edge junior-high-school-style, but Finn Taylor's direction and script are low-key and witty enough to make this heavy-handed premise enjoyable.

—Neil Gladstone