Pretty Good

Admirable film.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This 'little' Irish film takes its title from the reported shortness of a goldfish's memory, which supposedly lasts only three seconds - enough time for it to swim around its bowl, and then its memory starts over again. "Goldfish Memory" could be described as a less pretentious and more natural "Love Actually": an ensemble cast forms a mosaic of love and sex in Dublin. Writer/director Elizabeth Gill discusses gay, lesbian and straight relationships with humor and tenderness, never being heavy-handed or moralistic. She clearly is not concerned about being too deep or serious, but still manages to create some smart dialogue - particularly, a touching scene between Angie (Flora Montgomery), a lesbian reporter, and her best friend Red (Keith McErlean), at the beginning. Damien Rice (who'd become famous for the "Closer" soundtrack one year later - "Cold Water", by the way, was used in this movie first) and Lisa Hannigan singing Brazilian bossas both in English and Portuguese (with a very cute accent) in the soundtrack is a delightful surprise. A great Irish feel good movie. 8.5/10.

"Goldfish memory" is probably more than what is usually labelled"love movie". The multiplicity of narrative layers and the intertwining of the characters' fates seems to remind of a soap opera scenario at times but the actual reflection on love, presented by the director is probably more sophisticated than the scheme of a soap.In the end, all seems to come down to The Beatles: "All you need is love", even if you don't realise it.A simple but not simplistic phrase, even though used and abused for millennial. One need not be enthusiastic about the movie altogether, the way I wasn't, but perhaps it would be worthwhile to sit back and think if it's really just a movie and how does it fit our idea on emotions.

Man, if you still hesitate to watch this movie go ahead! I've seen quite a bunch of movies about love and relationships in homosexuality and heterosexuality, and this one is excellent. Behind the fact that it's very funny and entertaining, the cast is just perfect, the characters couldn't be more into their parts. The story is touching and true, never boring because it's always renewing when you don't expect it to. It gives you a good taste of life and its turmoils with a delightful sense of humor. It's refreshing really! Too bad there aren't more quality movies like this one... Thank you for this (too short) moment of enjoyment and laughters.

It would be far too simplistic to label Goldfish Memory as Love Actually meets Queer As Folk (US Version) but there are elements of both productions in this movie.In many ways, this was the movie that "Love Actually" could have been. Unlike "Love Actually" which had too many plot lines going on, this film concentrates on three or four main plot lines and it does them well! But there are also elements of the US version of "Queer As Folk" with its emphasis on the common experience of gay and lesbian culture and the close friendships that gays and lesbians can experience. Mind you, there are shades of Go Fish when Angie describes the rather incestuous nature of a Dublin lesbian dinner party. Curiously enough, Red doesn't appear to have any gay male friends.Actually, the two most rounded, and most interesting characters, were Red (played by Keith McErlean) and Angie (played by Flora Montgomery).And while I really enjoyed seeing the intimacy of their friendship, I was a little disappointed when the plot line went down a predictable path. Actually, a few of the plot lines went down the predictable path and that's what I thought was a weakness in this movie.And because of the predictability, although there are moments of genuine emotion I wasn't especially "touched" by the movie. I also thought there were moments of great implausibility; is everyone in Dublin bisexual, gay or lesbian or at least "on the turn"? The one straight male in this is Tom (played by Sean Campion, a 40 something university lecturer - who bore a remarkable resemblance to a younger Neil Tennant from The Pet Shop Boys - is the real loser. The movie starts and finishes with his tragic pickup lines about the memories of goldfish and reading Goethe in German (didn't Mouse like that in Tales Of The City, too?).Although the version screened in Perth at the Gay & Lesbian Film Festival looked like it had been videotaped off television - complete with screen problems! - the scenery of Dublin was terrific and made me want to go back there. I'd forgotten there were so many bridges over the Liffey.Despite some misgivings, I think it's a good film. And I can really relate to the film's central premise that, as far as love is concerned, human beings are just like goldfish which are said to have three-second memories... we forget how hard love can be when we fall in love again.Anyway, the film comes to a happy ending, so I guess that's a good thing. Really enjoyable!