First, I want to make it clear that I'm going to come at this review as if this is really a documentary and not a fabrication. That being said, this was a film that really had a lot going against it from the start. First, it's a documentary. Now I like good documentaries. But few of them are worthy enough to actually deserve a theatrical release and a running time that exceeds 60 minutes. I could be wrong, but I think most people probably share my opinion on that, and so when a documentary comes along that is opening in theatres (and thus is going to empty a wallet of $10) and runs just a shade over an hour and a half, most people are just not going to show up (although in this case, not many people showing up still garnered the film over 3 million dollars, and I have to believe that that made it a pretty decent profit). Second, in this day and age of many a mockumentary, the makers of this film were starting behind the 8-ball as far as believability is concerned (Yet, I don't find too many elements here that seem fabricated). Finally, Catfish was described by many to be a thriller, and was even marketed that way, and yet, although there was an element of suspense about half way through, it was mild and certainly wasn't found throughout the film. So, if people went in to this cinematic experience expecting to see a genuine reality thriller, it's no wonder that they would have been disappointed. So, all of that to say this. I thought Catfish was pretty good...not the greatest documentary that I've ever seen, but it still kept my attention and made me want to stick around for the conclusion. That's more than I can say for many fictional films, let alone documentaries. And I thought it was a pretty disturbing snapshot of just how distorted things can get when people connect with someone on the internet they do not know, and are careless in their interactions. The lesson here: Check out the people your interacting with to make sure they are who they say they are (to the best of your ability anyway). Even though the end result here was not negative, and could even be described as somewhat touching, I dare say that there have been many other instances where the consequences of not being careful about internet relationships were tragic. All in all, a pretty decent effort.
