i must have seen a different film!!

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Fish tank is a dark movie. I struggle with fitting this sort of a movie into a category which holds true for movies like Manchester by the sea or say lamb. Suffice to say that it is a category that I come back to, time after time. I love the cold hard spine of these movies. The shaky camera screaming imperfection, the sad eyes pleading for help, the unkempt hair forever as such. Fish tank adds another element to this theme though; the undeterred soul of a teenage life, whose ignorance often fuels hope. I understand these movies are not for everybody and often find themselves in the folder of either pretentious cinema lovers, indie dwellers like myself or snobs. Fish tank gives us a peek into the life of Mia, a fifteen-year-old teenager living with her mother and little sister in what looks like a project area. Needless to say, booze and bums, a constant throughout the movie. For some it's a habit, to some it's adventure. Mia is rebellious and more often than not is on the lookout for trouble. Among all this chaos and nothingness there is a side to her that reflects youthfulness. A little booze and she almost forgets who she is or finds her own self through dancing. It's a movie about the unpredictability of life. About how when you think you've got it just under control, it turns around and bites you in the ass and the frustration, pain and anger that ensues are aptly portrayed by Katie Jarvis. She stays true to her character and gives a great performance. Michael Fassbender gives his character just what it needs, a load of charm, and shows why he's one of the best actors in the industry. The director, Andrea Arnold deserves a pat on the back. This is a good movie and I give it a resounding 8.

"Fish Tank" is undeniably one of the greatest "British films of 21st Century." Andrea Arnold's piercing "Fish Tank" is the portrait of an angry, isolated 15-year-old girl who is hurtling toward a lifetime of misery. She is so hurt and lonely, we pity her. Her mother barely even sees her. The film takes place in a bleak British public housing estate, and in the streets and fields around it. There is no suggestion of a place this girl can go to find help, care or encouragement.In the worst of all things, Fassbender, with his magnetic charm and powerful screen presence, is able to make the audience for a connection with even an otherwise despicable character. Connor O'Reily, an initially charming father figure, begins a sexual relationship with his girlfriend's 15-year-old daughter, Mia.As the audience, we see the world through Mia's eyes, as her perception of Connor shifts from admiration to disgust. Fassbender is able to balance this transformation with inspired subtlety and enraged anxiety. While he tries to keep the affair hidden from the rest of the family, we are afraid as we anticipate what evils he is willing to commit in order to do so.In a film so tightly focused, all depends on Katie Jarvis' performance. There is truth in it. She lives on an Essex housing estate like the one in the movie, and she was discovered by Arnold while in a shouting match with her boyfriend at the Tilbury train station, which is seen in the movie. Now 18, she gave birth to a daughter conceived when she was 16.We can fear, but we can't say, that she was heading for a life similar to the one Mia seems doomed to experience. Her casting in this film, however, led to Cannes, the Jury Prize, and contracts with British and American agents. She is a powerful acting presence, flawlessly convincing here. And Arnold, who won an Oscar for her shattering short film "Wasp" (2003), also about a neglectful alcoholic mother, deserves comparison with a British master director like Ken Loach.

Fish Tank is a film that I had high expectations for but it fell considerably short of the mark. The premise of the film sounds like a great drama but for me it just didn't work. First of all the film is way too long for what it is, its 2 hours long and hardly anything happens! This easily could've had 30 minutes edited out as some scenes added absolutely nothing to the story.The film started off good but after an hour I began to realise that nothing special would happen. It was basically just watching a girl walk around her estate, swear at some people, try and free a horse, dance a bit, go home, leave the house again, dance some more and that's really all there was to it. Some of the stuff that was happening was just cringe worthy. The shaky camera was also rather annoying.The actors done a good but this film could have been so much more. Too long and not enough happening, disappointed.5/10.

I watched this movie because of the high rating and because Michael Fassbender is in it, but it left me quite disappointed. The acting was alright but I didn't find any of the characters interesting, so the only reason I didn't quit watching the movie was because I thought it would get better. There is no clear plot, it's more like a documentary about a low class family, filled by anger all the time, and their relationship with a higher class man, who has much better manners but is definitely not a better person. The message of the movie could be just that no matter how educated you are that doesn't make you a better person, but then the approach could have been much more interesting. The movie is not pleasant to watch since the characters are simply being an ass to each other all the time, and what makes it worse is that it has no entertaining value at all. One can argue that the whole point is to be realistic, but there is nothing special in the movie that makes it worthier to watch than simply observing real life if there is not going to be character growth or insights during the 2 hours anyway. What leaves you thinking is simply why would you even care about people who have no moral values and are difficult to bear with?