Schpadoinkle2000
The name Frenemy provoked a giggle out of a friend when I recommended her this title. Agreed, it seems suggestive of a potential feel-good, teenage, Lindsay Lohan something- or-other. Rather, Frenemy can best be described as a dark and compassionate independent film. Well acted, the characters, while capable of committing acts of depravity of American Psycho proportions, are relatable. Ultimately, this movie is about an overriding, self- sustaining, predetermined balance of good and evil. There is something to be gained each time I watch this movie.In the end, I'm left craving a sequel to see what becomes of Mr. Jack.
KineticSeoul
This movie is basically a misleading, messy rubbish that tries to be cool and clever but fails. Sure it has a few interesting dialogues and outlook but when it comes down to it, it's just not integrated into this movie well. And just seems like a pointless movie where the makers of this movie sat down in the past had few conversations they thought was intellectual and mashed it into one movie. Like "okay these are some interesting stuff we are talking about, now lets think of a way to put it all together into a movie" kinda deal. During the beginning scenes with Zach Galifianakis in the porno store I thought this might be a intriguing movie but the movie starts to fall apart from there on. And although Galifianakis is in the front cover of the DVD he is barely in this movie at all. And just goes in a direction with two padantic psychopaths constantly talking about assumptions, intuition, faith, humanity, balance and good and evil. And also bunch of movie references. But just feels random all around and doesn't seem to connect all even if few of the characters symbolize something. And has some terrible acting to go along with it even if most of the characters are suppose to be weird and a bit off. I give this movie a 5.8 because even if the dialogues seem good but it just doesn't interconnect and comes off as a disguise. Like Kirk Vanderbeek,Real Detroit Weekly calls it "A David Lynch meets Kevin Smith style, with a dash of 'Tarantino'". And it does have that Kevin Smith and a bit of Tarantino vibe but fails on both areas. It's somewhat watchable though but it's a mess of a movie.5.6/10
casarino
"Little Fish, Strange Pond" (which is a title about 14 times better than "Frenemy") wants to be...something. It wants it so bad that you're willing to bend your standards a bit for it. But the parts don't add up to much, I'm afraid.You know from the first ten minutes there's really no chance of this being "good." Director Dark seems desperate to prove his indie cred, but there's little sense that he knows what the hell he's doing (indeed, some of his porn titles are more assured). There's lots of shock, some comedy, some horror, some satire, lots of artsy cuts and edits, a bit of surrealism, and lead characters with no redeeming qualities. I can get behind all this, and there are moments, particularly after the clumsy setup, where the philosophical ramblings and dark, aimless story really holds your interest. The music helps too - it bridges the gaps in radically uneven scenes and adds some much-needed charm to the proceedings.But too often, writer Klein and Dark push too hard. They want to be NOTICED, so they allow the actors (particularly Modine) to over-indulge in "quirks," creating a cinematic artificiality that the movie cannot recover from. They're play-acting, and a movie like this needs gritty realism. Then again, given the over-written script (which is chock-full of underdeveloped ideas), the movie never really had a prayer.It's a mess. It doesn't work. Modine overdoes it. It's full of crap philosophy and the direction and story are self-consciously "edgy." But damned if it doesn't linger, giving you images and ideas to ponder for a long time. If you're in the right frame of mind, it's worth seeing, if only because you have to admire Dark for trying something new.
meatmachineman
Bad bad bad! So bad, I finally signed up to give a review! I suppose my wife and I are not artsy enough to fully appreciate such a grand production. We rented it because of Zach Galifanakianifianaisakilaificas. HE WAS PROMINATELY DISPLAYED ON THE COVER. Add to that the movie being listed as "comedy" and we thought we might have a winner on our hands. If one can get past the disappointment of Zach Whatshisname being in one scene, and one devoid of humor at that, they might try to find something redeeming in the movie. We found nothing. The mindless and random ramblings seemed endless. 80 minutes felt like days.If you like movies that no one else does and get a sense of superiority because you heard of and were a fan of Zach G prior to The Hangover, this movie might be right up you alley. If you're like the rest of us who laughed yourself silly at his roll in The Hangover, SKIP Frenemy or Little Fish, Strange Pond or whatever other name they have to change the movie to in order to not scare people away.The movie had two redeeming qualities, despite my disdain for it... 1) It ends 2) We were able to take it back to Redbox. The fact that I wasted a meager dollar for it still irks me, though.
AD
