Fishtales (2007)

Director:

Alki David

Writers:

Alki David (written by)
Melissa Painter (written by)

Release Date:

1 May 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Family

Tagline:

A funny catch!

Plot:

The film takes place on the Greek Island of Spetses, where widowed Greek-History Professor Thomas Bradley...

Plot Keywords:

Fishtales | Mermaid

Cast

Billy Zane	...	Prof. Thomas Bradley
Alki David	...	Captain Mavros
Kelly Brook	...	Neried
Amber Savva	...	Serena Bradley
Felix Yanez	...	Dimitri Mavros
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Christian Gill	...	Oxford University Student
Olivia Grant	...	Angela
Dorothea Mercouri	...	Kameni

MPAA:

Rated PG for some rude humor and language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Greek

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Arokaria

Trivia:

The mermaid tail that Kelly Brook and her stunt double, Hannah Stacey, wore for the film were specially moulded to fit each of them and took three and a half months to build.

See 'Splash' Instead

The cast may have seemed to have had fun filming this--but you certainly won't.

Classicist goes to Greek island with his daughter to work on his research on ancient love spells. There his daughter befriends a mermaid, with whom she subsequently attempts to fix up her reclusive and work-obsessed father.

Sounds good when I put it that way but sitting through the film is a very different experience. If I had to describe this entire movie in one word, it would be "jagged." The plot lurches abruptly in random directions, with characters' motivations suddenly shifting unexplainably or we see them performing actions which are bizarre and out of place.

Not long after the professor arrives on the island, he calls Oxford and, in a drunken stupor, tells them he quits his job. There is no lead up to this. Nothing. Out of nowhere, a perfectly composed researcher is shown drunk and quitting. His daughter, who befriends the mermaid, does all she can to make her father and the mermaid meet only to suddenly change her mind because she realizes her father is in love with "a fish." Why is the daughter's motivation suddenly twisted around 180 degrees? In another scene, we see the daughter walking into a shop and addressed by a female shopkeeper with a dubbed male voice who snorts, pig-like. Why? We will never know. The villain is played by a local fisherman with a mechanical arm (your guess it as good as mine here) who wants to capture the mermaid for his own profit.

Countless of scenes consists of snippets of dialog which seem to have belonged in a bigger conversation. Then the scene cuts to yet another in a long stream of bizarre happenings.

I don't want to put this film down, because I rather like it's strange but original nature. However, I must warn any potential viewers: If you are looking for an off-beat, strange little movie that'll slightly perplex you while it throws in a few slightly amusing parts, then sure, go see "Fishtales." However, if you are looking to be ENTERTAINED--if you want a movie with a coherent plot, which is well-paced, moves in a pleasant manner and captures you attention without you having to constantly pause and ask yourself, "what the..."--then skip this one.

See "Splash" instead.