Jamie passion and passionfruit!

A strange film, this one.  A dark piece about an ex-heroin addict Tracy (Cate Blanchett) trying to make a go of it in a Vietnamese video store in the poor suburbs of Sydney, her long-suffering mother (Noni Hazlehurst), her mum’s ex who was a football star and is now a junkie (Hugo Weaving), his former squeeze and mafia boss (Sam Neill in an eerie role for him), the brother with his prosthetic leg (Martin Henderson) and Tracy’s ex – also a drug taker and wide boy (Dustin Nguyen).  It’s a great cast, many cast against type and giving some of their best performances ever or at least in a long time.  Weaving, Hazlehurst, Neill and Henderson all fall into this category.  However, as a film, Little Fish comes across as vaguely staged.  The story is nothing too unusual and only a piecemeal way of revealing the facts to us keeps our interest in the early part.  It ends up giving you the feeling that it has all been created to give the actors wow situations to show us their chops.  So, I can’t say much in favour of the film but it is great to watch Blanchett who so fits the role again that it is evidence of her supreme talent and her chameleon ability to play any role.  So, for her, I recommend it.