Customer Reviews

I'm Reed Fish

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I stumbled on to this on my Netflix "instant play" feature as something to watch. The Netflix rating system told me I'd like it, and they were right! So much so that I'll probably buy it soon.

The coming of age love story watches the goings-on of Reed Fish, a "literal" big fish in a small town who has a daily radio show he inherited from his dad. The slam dunk in this movie is Schuyler Fisk's performance and music. She's incredibly engaging. Her music is wonderful. Jay Baruchel, as the title character Reed, and Alexis Bledel, as his fiancée, do an excellent job.

Some reviewers trash this film for various perceived ills, but they are completely missing the humour and the point. Reed Fish is a big fish, pun intended, in this little town, and spends his days solving problems for his listeners and otherwise operating as a pillar of his community despite his youth - it's meant to be a little weird, I think. There are many moments where the movie laughs at itself for all these "flaws", which I'm sure were engineered in in part to mimic reality. Do yourself a favor - suspend your reality for a moment and enjoy it for what it is - a delightfully engaging, charming romantic comedy.

Welcome to Mud Meadows. And Reed Fish (Jay Baruchel) is the Voice of Mud Meadows. He inherited the job from his Dad. Mud Meadows is one of those tiny towns where the biggest controversy is grooming the town hedges and the big story is the return of the zorse (zebra+horse).

Since taking over the Voice job from his Dad, Reed's become the town's Mr. Fixit. He knows who to call and what to say to get the small-town government working for its citizenry.

He's marrying Kate (Alexis Bledel), the darling of Mud Flats, a girl who's 'almost like family' already. Her Dad's big excitement is smoking an illegal cigar. And she expects Reed to get excited about wedding color schemes, food, etc.

It's just too perfect--something or someone--has to upset the apple cart. That would be Jill (Schuyler Fisk), his ex-girlfriend from HS, who went away to college. She's a pragmatic girl who believes happy endings only happen in movies.

What ensues is chaotic and funny. Reed has to learn how he defines his life--rather than the town, etc.

Of particular note is the soundtrack. Fisk sings a couple of songs and has a very nice voice.

My only serious gripe with this funny indie film is the DVD is dark enough that I had to fiddle with the contrast fairly radically to get it to look right. It was worth the trouble.

Reed Fish (Jay Baruchel) hosts a radio call-in show whose audience is as loyal in spirit as it is infinitesimal in size. His listener-ship is comprised exclusively of the citizens of Mud Meadows, a small town discreetly nestled in the pine-encrusted mountains of Southern California (the movie was filmed in the scenic Big Bear area). Although he's come to be known as "The Voice of Mud Meadows" for keeping the town folk apprised on issues of concern to the local community, Fish really isn't all that happy with his life. He actually feels hemmed in by the restrictions of small town life and is beginning to have second thoughts about his impending marriage to a childhood friend, Kate (Alexis Bledel), whom he may be marrying more out of a sense of duty and obligation than out of genuine love or passion. His life gets even more complicated when Jill (Schuyler Fisk), a girl he once had a crush on, returns to Mud Meadows for the summer, stirring up old feelings in him and making him question even more the level of his commitment to Kate.

Based on a semi-autobiographical story by none other than Reed Fish himself, "I'm Reed Fish" is an utterly beguiling indie comedy, overflowing with sweet sentiment, rueful humor and outstanding performances by Baruchel, Fisk, Bledel, Victor Rasuk, Katey Sagal and Chris Parnell, well known from his work on "Saturday Night Live." Not only are the characters themselves immensely charming and likable but their responses to the situations they find themselves in are believable and touching as well. "I`m Reed Fish," written by Fish and directed by Zackary Adler, is smart about the complexities of romantic relationships, and the movie is filled with any number of beautiful and lovely moments, the most transcendent being the one in which Jill (Fisk) literally lights up the screen with her musical performance at a local pub. As a writer, Fish is scrupulously fair to the characters he`s created, avoiding the obvious temptation to paint Kate, in particular, as a fool or a harridan just so he can enhance Jill's virtues in the viewer's eyes. This equanimity makes the protagonist's romantic dilemma all that much more compelling and empathetic for the audience caught up in the story.

As lagniappe, the writer has placed the story in an offbeat film-within-a-film framework that gives the movie an extra added kick at the end.

I only bought this movie because Alexis Bledel was in it and overall, I have to say, I'm very disappointed. Aside from the two women (Alexis Bledel and Schuyler Fisk), the acting was awful/bland, and the plot was just really weird/lame. Throughout the story, you get to know the characters and see their relationships develop and then all of a sudden, you realize they were all just acting. At the end, two completely random people end up being the real Jill and Kate and I couldn't have cared less who he ended up with because they were both complete strangers with whom there had been no chemistry developed.

It's really ridiculous to waste so much time building up everyone's relationships and chemistry like that only to extinguish it all in the end. I can tell the director was going for something unique and different here rather than just the predictable love story but honestly, a predictable love story would have been much better. IMO, this just didn't work out at all.

Aside from the ridiculous plot twist, the main character was just not all that likeable. Jay's Reed was less the likeable guy and more the mumbling, moronic loser who I just couldn't like no matter how hard I tried. I wish neither woman had ended up with him in the end because he really wasn't worthy of any of them in any respect.

The only decent part of the movie was when Schuyler Fisk sang at the bar. That was truly the only thing worth watching so please, don't waste your money on this one unless you really want to see her sing (Even then you might just want to fast forward to that part).

I came across this on netflix watch instantly and had to give it a shot because of Bledel. I'm posting this review simply to observe that it seemed people either loved this or really hated it and thought it was weird. Clearly I fall into the former category but I'll just respond to everyone who thought it was cliche, bland, dull, or weird: the same themes of life show up in movies over and over again not because they're made by completely unoriginal uncreative filmmakers...but because they're themes true to life. People do change and make mistakes and fall in love and fall out of it and maybe they don't always look so likable to the "audience" watching their every move.

I think that's the real point of the movie. It's why the movie was so self-reflective, to underscore the point that people watching in always have their own opinions about whether Reed's just a jerk who doesn't deserve either of these beautiful women but the truth is that in real life, some people get lucky and some people don't. It doesn't matter whether you think they deserve it or not. I bet those people who think others are undeserving are usually the bitter ones themselves.

The thing that came across most from this cute little movie is that honesty and forgiveness are the most important things in life and if someone has to live their life without you, well then, you should realize that you're all the better for it (e.g. Kate). You have your own life movie to make!

I watched I'm Reed Fish on Netflix a few days ago and loved it. The characters are very easy to relate to. This movie is for anyone who is unsure about which direction they're headed. Schuyler Fisk sings beautifully at the bar and Reed is just so lovable. Some of the scenes are not laugh out loud funny but will induce a chuckle every now and then. Although, the twist ending is not exactly appealing, I still loved the movie.

We saw this film at Tribeca. Set in a small town, Reed Fish is about to get married to Alexis Bledel but then comes Skyler Fisk, his high school girlfriend. Martial artist DJ Qualls is Schuyler Fisk's brother and owns the town grocery store. Katey Segal plays Reed's mother and the town's mayor. Chris Parnell is a bartender friend of Reed's father.

The cast is well picked, the scenery is beautiful and Skuyler's music is amazing. Actually all of the songs were great.

What a wonderful gem of a film! I am so angry it flew under-the-radar and couldn't have been something even remotely close to a sleeper hit. I would have been happy with it grossing even 1 Million at the Box Office instead of the paltry $3,130 it ended up with in its entire Box Office run, which, to be fair, only lasted a couple of weeks and was only shown on one screen.

It's a good thing Alexis Bledel was in this or I might have missed this great little film. I wasn't all that impressed by the trailer but thought it looked decent. However, being a huge fan of Gilmore Girls, I planned on seeing it anyway for Alexis. I'm really thankful I did. The whole cast is terrific. I especially loved Jay Baruchel in it. I've never been that impressed by him until now. He gives a really nice, natural, and charming performance.

I'm just so disappointed that it didn't do better. Did they not even market it? It couldn't have been marketed very well that's for sure. It deserves to be seen. I will definitely do what I can to get people to see it. I'll pimp it out at the video store (unfortunately we only got one copy - we couldn't even get 3? Come on!) and if I can find one I'd like an "I'm Reed Fish" shirt. Then if people ask about my shirt I'll tell them about the movie. Hopefully it can be discovered by quite a few people on DVD.

I urge everyone to seek this one out.

Grade: 8/10 (A-)

This movie is well done for the most part, funny and engaging ... to a point. The main character, Reed Fish, wavers between two women throughout - and simply demonstrates that he loves himself more than either of them.

We the viewers are supposed to believe that Reed is misunderstood and has, "always tried to be what others expect," while at a more basic level he is simply an irresponsible and self-centered young man, desperate enough to sleep with the prospect he doesn't like so much just so he can keep her on a string (in case the other girl doesn't work out).

Spoiler warning! Do not read ahead if you intend to watch the show ...

The most irritating part is the way the female characters turn around and act as though Reed has done the right thing in the end. Ugh. NOT such a good object lesson, since everything works out for Reed.

I thought this was a fun little film. It was unassuming, clever, and well done. I enjoyed the plot twist and the way it made me think. I'm glad I ran across this movie.