noralee "Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire" is, in several ways, an Italians-in-L.A. version of "The Brothers McMullen."It's evidently done by NYU students, with the print blown-up from 16 mm, grainy shadows and all, and filmed primarily in the house of the brothers who co-star in and co-wrote the screenplay.The problems with the Opposite Sex are pretty much the same too, with one being a happy-go-lucky philanderer (that's "Smiling Fish") and the other a straight-arrow accountant being shredded by his long-time girlfriend (that's "Goat on Fire"). The new, magic realism element is an elderly black sage from the early days of race movies who provides oddball advice on love and the magic of the movies. As twenty-somethings-in-and-out-of-love movies go, this is cute and likable.(originally written 9/16/2000)

William J. Fickling This is one of those flicks that are worth catching on cable if it happens to be on when you have nothing else to do. It's not worth renting. it is a likeable and watchable film that was obviously influenced by "The Brothers McMullen," although it's not as good and, in the final analysis, is ultimately silly. It provides an excellent performance by the veteran African-American character actor Bill Henderson, who plays Clive, a stereotypical elderly font of wisdom who imparts some of that wisdom to the driven and compulsive but Ultimately Decent Chris and the frivolous and irresponsible but Ultimately Decent Tony. He also provides a 'deus ex machina' ending as well. Do you remember the Danny Glover character in "Grand Canyon?" The Henderson character is the same character 50 years older.

Lucian-3 It's good sometimes to be reminded we need low budget indie films to tell us warm, genuinely human stories. Despite poor production values wonderful performances shine through here. Most notable is Bill Henderson giving the performance of his life. Mainstream films offer so few strong emotional roles to the elderly (as opposed to pap like The Crew or Space Cowboys) that it's nice to see Bill shine. When I saw the premier screening at Toronto International Film Festival it received 3 standing ovations, one especially for Henderson, who was overwhelmed with joy to receive it.I look forward to this film coming to town again so I can see it a second time after post-production.

Alan J. Jacobs I went to a free screening of this picture on Aug. 23, 2000. The woman from the distribution company informed us: "The filmmakers couldn't be here tonight, but if they were, they would like you to know that the film cost $40,000 to make, and won the Audience Appreciation award in Toronto." THAT'S what they want us to know. Who cares how much it cost?The film is dreary, but girls seemed to like it, because good-looking guys learn their lessons (from women, of course) and become much better people. At the start, each brother (the happy-go-lucky blonde actor nicknamed "Smiling Fish" by a Native-American grandmother, and the serious dark-haired accountant nicknamed "Goat on Fire) is having girl problems. Fish's girlfriend realizes that he is using a ribbed condom--and she buys all the condoms, but never ribbed. Goat's girlfriend keeps crying for no reason at all. It turns out that she is pregnant, but not by Goat, and she's both confused about what to do, and going through that irrational phase that pregnant women sometimes do.Each of the brothers attains a guru: Goat befriends a fellow accountant--an old black man who is trying to eat enough donuts to kill himself, so he can join his wife in heaven. Fish meets a lovely mail carrier, whose daughter (a budding actress herself) acts as his impetus to become serious with her mail-Mom. Goat takes up with a sultry animal-wrangler with an annoying European accent; he dumps her when he thinks that the ex-girlfriend's kid is his, but, after the old black man dies, a tape is played at the funeral that gets Goat and the wrangler back together.I might have liked this movie if it took place in New York, but the California settings and jobs just seemed too la-la-lightweight. The movie seemed like a USC thesis film that cost maybe $35,000. I don't know where the other $5000 went to.