"Catfish" was one of 2010's most talked-about movies, but most of that dialogue begged people not to talk about it. It’s a documentary about the relationship between a twentysomething photographer in New York and a family in Michigan that is using his photos as inspiration for its art.
To honor the encouraged silence, I shall not reveal anymore of the plot but only discuss the movie as a whole.
After films like "Exit Through the Gift Shop" and the atrocious "I'm Still Here," it has become difficult to trust narrative documentaries. Walking out of "Catfish," I didn’t think it was real because it would fit too well with the film’s themes for there to be technological fakery. Also, I never bought that the characters were making this documentary before the plot developed into something more cinematic. Was it just a coincidence this became so interesting?
Yet the filmmakers swear this is true — just like Mr. Casey Affleck was swearing last year about "Here." If this is true, then it’s still not compelling enough. People have raved about the ending, but it's unsatisfying, especially with its build-up in the movie. This would make for a powerful segment on "This American Life," but it’s stretched too much for a feature film.
That said, there are plenty of fun ways the filmmakers told this story through degrees of common technology. Places are examined through Google Earth, research is conducted through YouTube and the plot is centered around Facebook. Technology controls the lives of those in the film, but, of course, the movie is also subject to the same socializing technology with the filmmakers' video camera.
This film is not criticizing technology like a fearful 1950s sci-fi movie. Instead, it is curious about the evolution — not devolution—of online intimacy. This topic is so interesting, but "Catfish" focuses too much on plot and facts that there is too swift a shift when it asks personal psychological queries of its subjects.
The ending and, ultimately, the movie did not capture me as it did many other viewers because I never cared about its characters outside of their relation to where the plot was heading. And since that plot led to a point that quickly plateaued, the film has to be labeled a disappointment. There is a severe emotional disconnect in its narrative, and that doesn't count as "the film's point."
The DVD does not have a commentary track revealing all of the “answers.” Instead there is a featurette entitled “SECRETS REVEALED.” It is the three filmmakers sitting on stools answering questions about the movie, which are the stories they probably would be telling on the commentary track. They chat for 30 minutes, but I wish there was a proper interviewer there probing them in a few of their statements and asking different questions. It’s a good set-up but it feels a bit routine for them at this point.
Film: 2.5 Yaps
Extras: 2.5 Yaps