"Catfish" is one of those stories where things are not as they seem. It's deceptive, exhilarating, shocking, thrilling, and unsettling. Or at least that's what the producers have claimed.
I'm assuming by now, most people have seen a fair number of reality, documentary stories where the people they have met online are not what they claim to be. I've seen "Talhotblond" and now that was unsettling, but comparatively, "Catfish" was bland, boring and ordinary. It's not thrilling because the filmmakers so gradually come to understand the deception that is occurring, that the audience realizes it at the same time or shortly before they do - which is very early on in the film.
However, it's still good because this is what independent documentary filmmaking is all about. These filmmakers were looking for a story and when they found one right in front of them, they jumped on it. The result is that we were able to see most things unfold in real time and that makes it interesting in a much more real way. Our hero is Nev, he's the type of guy that we can really get behind and he's not just blindly falling in love but questioning and being skeptical when he should be, and that's good filmmaking. These filmmakers also wanted to show the good in everybody and that was just so refreshing that I expect better things from them in the future, and I might even recommend "Catfish", just don't expect to be shocked or thrilled.
I'm assuming by now, most people have seen a fair number of reality, documentary stories where the people they have met online are not what they claim to be. I've seen "Talhotblond" and now that was unsettling, but comparatively, "Catfish" was bland, boring and ordinary. It's not thrilling because the filmmakers so gradually come to understand the deception that is occurring, that the audience realizes it at the same time or shortly before they do - which is very early on in the film.
However, it's still good because this is what independent documentary filmmaking is all about. These filmmakers were looking for a story and when they found one right in front of them, they jumped on it. The result is that we were able to see most things unfold in real time and that makes it interesting in a much more real way. Our hero is Nev, he's the type of guy that we can really get behind and he's not just blindly falling in love but questioning and being skeptical when he should be, and that's good filmmaking. These filmmakers also wanted to show the good in everybody and that was just so refreshing that I expect better things from them in the future, and I might even recommend "Catfish", just don't expect to be shocked or thrilled.