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Misc. Reviews

FISH’N CHICKS

By • Apr 14th, 2002 •

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2002

Due to it’s “home-grown” look, a digital feature or short needs to grab its audience in the first seconds. A strong visual is usually best. Canadian film-maker Joseph E. DeLeo wisely sticks to this rule with the opening scene of his digital video short FISH’N CHICKS. We see a beautiful young brunette begin to unhook her bra. Okay, this plays to the lowest common denominator, but he has our attention.

Two lifelong friends, George (Mike Dufays) and Arnold (Mark Tyler), both twenty-something and girl hungry, go on a fishing trip in a canoe on a secluded Canadian lake. As they wait for some big-mouthed bass to come for the bait, they compare stories of recent sexual conquests. Often we flashback to bars and bedrooms (two easy-to-obtain locations for the low budget film-maker) where these guys “reel in the line” catching the hot chick for the night.

The tensions on the little boat build. As these guys let these stories heat up anger, we wonder, are we going to see a re-enactment of A PLACE IN THE SUN? There’s a twist. For its 30 minutes running time, FISH’N CHICKS kept me amused. Some of the dialog is crisp (“For 12 hours what these girls did to me, I wouldn’t do to a farm animal.”) I often wish low-budget film-makers (especially when working in Digital) would shy away from the notion that they have to use only one key setting, but DeLeo lets his almost single set (the rowboat) work.

Having worked in the digital field myself, the biggest technical problem in this type of film-making is the sound. FISH N’CHICKS, with its changes in background noise, proves a lake is a nightmare location for a sound man.

Credits:
Produced, Written and Directed by Joseph E. DeLeo

Cast:
Simone Mendes, Mike Dufays, Mark Tyler, Nicola Basile

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