Dream With the Fishes

Even by the standards of independent cinema, Dream With the Fishes is a tough film to categorize. David Arquette stars as a suicidal businessman with faltering resolve who enters into a strange bargain with terminally ill con man Brad Hunt: namely, Arquette proposes to bankroll Hunt's fantasies, if Hunt will kill him. For the first half hour it's a fairly compelling story, building a dangerous tension between the two enigmatic characters which keeps you watching and guessing. Then, writer/director Finn Taylor turns the guys into mis-matched buddies and sends them off on a series of wacky adventures so that they can learn Important Life Lessons. Part tough-talking thriller, part surreal odyssey and part male bonding drama, Dream With the Fishes has the predictable flow of a made-for Lifetime TV movie with an indy-hip testosterone twist. A very optional purchase. (S. Renshaw)