Yaniv's brother, filmmaker Ariel Schulman and his producing partner, Henry Joost, began to chronicle the budding friendship and flirtation, and over time developed this documentary, in which the three fellows go to meet Megan and find out that...well, she's not who she has said she is.
A Documentary With A Suspiciously Strong Narrative
The subject, although timely, just isn't all that consequential. In fact, it's a kind of high-er tech twist on a fairly standard pen pal plot. Two people correspond, crush on each other, seek each other out -- and find that they're other than that which they stated they were and/or expected each other to be.
When presented as a piece of fiction, this not unusual plot is as interesting as the characters who are acting it out, and as compelling as the complexities of their circumstances.
Presented as a documentary, the story has an inherent grabber, a sense of real life risk that can be thrilling or maddening, and of personal vulnerability that can be charming or saddening.
In Catfish, it's nigh unto impossible to determine whether filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost and their protagonist, Yaniv -- nicknamed Nev -- Schulman are naive observers of their own doings or whether they are complicit in the manipulation of events -- and there will probably be speculation and difference of opinion about that for as long as Catfish remains in play, or until the filmmakers make a definitively convincing statement about it.
An Enormously Entertaining Adventure
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Film Details
- Title: Catfish
- Directors: Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost
- US Theatrical Release Date: September 17, 2010 (limited)
- Running Time: 94 mins.
- MPAA Rating: PG for some sexual references
- Parental Advisory: Content advisory for parents
- Location: USA, New York, Los Angeles
- Distribution Company: Universal Pictures
- Official Website
