Now on DVD: Catfish

When this film arrived on my doorstep, I dropped everything I was doing and popped it into the player. I had read all of the hype about the releasing of this "Facebook documentary" at the same time as the "Facebook movie". I was drawn in by the hushed way that people spoke about the documentary and the fact that no one was willing to give a full plot detail. It is for this reason that I watched the movie hungrily waiting to be blow away. I was disappointed...greatly!

This film follows a young artist who becomes interested in the artwork of an 8 year old girl, Abby, who lives in Michigan. As he becomes more and more entranced with her work, he starts a relationship with the rest of Abby's family. Eventually, he begins to date Abby's half-sister Meghan though they have never met and their only interactions have been through Facebook or on the phone. When he gets a chance to travel to the west coast, he decides to drop in on the family. As the date of the trip approaches, he begins to think that maybe he has been duped. He starts wondering if there even is an Abby and if Meghan actually exists. This revelation leads him to the family's doorstep where he is faced with the truth.

All of the hype surrounding this film made me think that there would be an intriguing twist that changes the viewer's preconceptions. However, I found no such revelation. Instead, I found the film to be another cautionary tale about Facebook and online dating. There was nothing new here that hasn't been covered on the Evening News or been the subject of a Lifetime movie. Additionally, there has been an outcry that the film is a hoax. I don't know if there is any truth in this statement; what I know IS true is that this film had a terrific ad campaign for a far from terrific movie.

-DLP