Little Fish, Strange Pond


Little Fish, Strange Pond is a 2009 American direct-to-DVD independent black comedy drama film directed by Gregory Dark and written by Robert Dean Klein.

Plot

Mr. Jack and Sweet Stephen spend the next few days wandering Los Angeles, playing mind games with the pathologically indifferent and misanthropic locals with Mr. Jack acting peculiarly upbeat, amiable and patronising with Sweet Stephen acting like an oppressive thuggish frat boy, although its not specified why, either they are time travellers with Sweet revealing a childhood flashback with 1960's aesthetics or Mr. Jack is a hard luck aspiring actor with Sweet retorting; You know your not from England right? With a subplot of Police Detective Tommy who is pursuing the duo in the investigation of the brutal murder of a young woman, Stephanie Sinclair, found dismembered in a city park trash can, in a heartfelt interview with her roommate Juliet who reveals she's abused by her boyfriend, confirms that Sinclair has a penchant for dangerous men. Mr. Jack and Sweet Stephen are guests who meet an unuspecting Tommy when visiting a porn shop that is held up by a robber, who Mr. Jack is able to distract with his quick wit, is then shot by Tommy. Although, Tommy is oblivious that the duo are depraved serial killers, they praise Tommy for his quick actions. The duo are guests on the Dennis Rivers show, a Maury-esque talk show, with the subject of the day being a prepubescent boy who is guilty of murdering his parents. Mr. Jack claims the moral high ground that the studio guests and hosts are no more morally exalted than the boy, then Tommy arrives and asks if "stabbing a young woman repeatedly and then dismembering her corpse, an act of evil?" Mr. Jack then holds the talk show host hostage at knifepoint and Tommy shoots Sweet fatally and Mr. Jack injured. Then the ending scenes is Mr. Jack being heavily implied to be executed by lethal injection then meeting together in Heaven.

Cast

Release

The film was initially released under the title Little Fish, Strange Pond and it premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival on October 23, 2009. The film was later retitled Frenemy for its DVD release on December 14, 2010. That release was known for prominently featuring Zack Galifianakis on the cover with a poor overall photo manipulation after his success with The Hangover, though he wasn't even highlighted as a star of the film below Modine and Blue when it was released originally, and only played a small role within it.

Reception

The Austin American-Statesman reviewed the film, noting that the film tried to be too many things at once but was instead "sour incoherence". DVD Talk also reviewed it, writing "As a weird comedy/morality play involving gruesome murder, Frenemy will test your limits of appreciation for clever structure and kegger philosophy, as forcefully as it pushes your buttons with unlikable characters."