Little Fish

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Little Fish

R,

2005,

1h 53m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

89%

28 Reviews

Tomatometer

57%

50,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

28 Reviews

57%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Four years clean, video store manager Tracy (Cate Blanchett) lives quietly, avoiding anything that might trigger a heroin relapse. Her ex-boyfriend Jonny (Dustin Nguyen) returns, claiming he is now a drug-free banker, and the two begin seeing each other again. Tracy looks after Lionel (Hugo Weaving), the man who introduced her to the drug. But, Lionel is thrown into a panic when his dealer, Brad (Sam Neill), suddenly retires. Lionel begs Tracy to help him score, testing her shaky sobriety.

Critics Consensus

Fueled by powerful work from a strong cast led by Cate Blanchett, Little Fish is a hard-hitting story worth watching -- and a major step forward for director Rowan Woods.

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Philip French

Guardian

Jul 22, 2006

The actors give performances of intense naturalness.

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Patrick Peters

Empire Magazine

Jul 22, 2006

3/5

Strong performances and meticulous direction make this consistently disconcerting, but the subplot distracts from the moving human drama.

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Jul 20, 2006

It's a sober, sensitive film ... about degrees of dependency, grief, guilt, recrimination and recuperation.

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Murtada Elfadl

Sundays with Cate

May 1, 2020

B+

Cate Blanchett like you've never seen before, gritty and stripped down. Both in look and performance.

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Keeva Stratton

Rescu (Australia)

Sep 15, 2017

It's an incredible performance [from Cate Blanchett].

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Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

Oct 18, 2008

A superb cast, mostly playing roles against type, make Little Fish a captivating and emotionally involving film, delivered with the flourish of a filmmaker who knows his craft and what to do with it to reach his audience.

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Ron S

Jul 23, 2017

Cate Blanchett once again proves her superior acting abilities in this rather uneven drama directed by Rowan Woods.

George S

May 12, 2017

Little Fish is a film I praised upon first seeing it but in hindsight, perhaps it only reflects the dearth of great Australian movies in the early 2000s. Credit where it is due, the cast are outstanding (particularly Hugo Weaving as the junkee ex-AFL star who will do anything for a hit- just ask Sam Neill's character!) and Cate Blanchett- who's character wants to reform herself but is struggling with addiction. Noni Hazlehurst is also terrrific as her suffering mother. Despite these very strong elements, the story is relentlessly depressing and gritty and scarcely a splinter of light ever makes it through the curtain of this domestic junkee drama- the intensity of the performances can be very draining because of this. Perhaps the girls choir who sing the Cold Chisel classic 'Flame Trees' at the end should not have ommited the line "Who needs this sentimental bullshit anyway?..."

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Hermione R

Feb 4, 2017

Little Fish is a film I praised upon first seeing it but in hindsight, perhaps it only reflects the dearth of great Australian movies in the early 2000s. Credit where it is due, the cast are outstanding (particularly Hugo Weaving as the junkee ex-AFL star who will do anything for a hit- just ask Sam Neill's character!) and Cate Blanchett- who's character wants to reform herself but is struggling with addiction. Noni Hazlehurst is also terrrific as her suffering mother. Despite these very strong elements, the story is relentlessly depressing and gritty and scarcely a splinter of light ever makes it through the curtain of this domestic junkee drama- the intensity of the performances can be very draining because of this. Perhaps the girls choir who sing the Cold Chisel classic 'Flame Trees' at the end should not have ommited the line "Who needs this sentimental bullshit anyway?..."

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Finn W

Jan 4, 2008

really didn't enjoy this one and the story didn't seem to add up to much. Disappointing

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Rowan Woods

Director

Cate Blanchett

Tracy Heart

Sam Neill

The Jockey

Hugo Weaving

Lionel Dawson

Martin Henderson

Ray Heart

Noni Hazlehurst

Janelle Heart

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14%

60%

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Synopsis

Four years clean, video store manager Tracy (Cate Blanchett) lives quietly, avoiding anything that might trigger a heroin relapse. Her ex-boyfriend Jonny (Dustin Nguyen) returns, claiming he is now a drug-free banker, and the two begin seeing each other again. Tracy looks after Lionel (Hugo Weaving), the man who introduced her to the drug. But, Lionel is thrown into a panic when his dealer, Brad (Sam Neill), suddenly retires. Lionel begs Tracy to help him score, testing her shaky sobriety.

Director: Rowan Woods
Producer: Vincent Sheehan, Liz Watts, Richard Keddie
Screenwriter: Jacqueline Perske
Production Co: Myriad Pictures, New South Wales Film & Television Office
Rating: R (Drug Content|Brief Sexuality|Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Feb 24, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Runtime: 1h 53m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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