Fishtales
Fishtales
PG | 01 May 2008 (USA)
Fishtales Trailers

A Greek History Professor & his daughter travel to a Greek Island for one last chance to finish his thesis on ancient love spells before he loses his research grant. His daughter attempts to match her father with the local women without success until she meets a beautiful Mermaid with whose help the Professor might finally find true love for himself.

Reviews
Interesteg What makes it different from others?
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Dr_Mark_ODoherty Although the plot is somewhat predictable, this is actually a very original comedy with some gutsy and very funny performances - especially from the strong supporting cast, that includes a very diverse range of actors. A spirited performance also by Kelly Brook. Her transformation from the haughty, dignified mermaid goddess into the whimpering lovesick fool - who stalks her love interest by camouflaging herself with a bush - is very funny. In fact, this modern Greek love tale would have been almost touching, if it would not have been so chaotic and comical.
shinybutton This film was a massive disappointment. The set up is fine, but the mermaid turns out to have a spoiled brat nature that ruins the magic. The plot is chaotic and the characters seem fickle, if not just mentally ill. They weirdly insert a menacing cross-dressing shop keeper into the middle of the film, for no apparent purpose to the plot. The villain fisherman is also a peeping tom who gets his jollies spying on women in their underwear. The village matchmaker attempts to lure the Dad, by tossing a bucket of water on buxom village women. Then at the end, an old man suddenly falls in love with his male colleague and kisses him! I know there are parents out there that will not be expecting all of this, this or wanting to venture into the questions that may arise from it.
Amy Adler Dr. Thomas Bradley (Billy Zane) is a typical absent-minded professor. Writing a book about the lore and language of ancient Greece, he is having trouble, nonetheless, meeting deadlines. His young daughter, Serena, is at a loss about how to help him. At the college's direction, Dr. Bradley is told to travel to the Greek isles and finish his book at the appropriate time. Unfortunately, Thomas is a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to the sea and he can't swim, so the prospect of a working vacation surrounded by water doesn't please him. Yet, once he and his daughter arrive at their destination, Dr. Bradley does find the atmosphere quite nice. So does Serena. In fact, Serena meets a beautiful neried (Kelly Brook), a classical name for mermaid, on the shore and is fascinated by her new acquaintance. The young girl is soon determined to "match" the mermaid to her father, despite the fact that the water-lady only has legs after sunset. Then, too complications arrive when a native Greek gentleman begins following the foreigners, for his grandson has told him a mermaid has been seen on the shore near their house. Will the professor finish his book in time and will he be interested in romance, too? This was quite a lovely film for those fans of light romance. The cast is nice, with Zane giving a fine comical turn as the professor and Brook utterly gorgeous and dry-witted as the neried. All other cast members give talented turns, too. Naturally, the scenery in Greece is beautiful beyond measure and the costumes, production values, script and direction are worthy, too. But, although the movie is touted as an acceptable family film, some parents might object to the daughter's occasional back-talk and the use of words like "a-hole". All in all, however, kids will probably enjoy it, especially young girls. Therefore, if you or yours love humorous romance and sweet stories, here is a tale to bring home someday soon. There's nothing fishy in saying a good time will be had by all, young and old alike.
geoff-367 Der Schnibbler was too kind when he called this movie jagged. The screenwriter seems to have no clue about anything. I howled in the beginning when Billy Zane's character is warned of the precarious position of a "visiting professor emeritus." ("Emeritus" is a fancy word for "retired", hardly appropriate for the youthful Zane, and visitors don't retire because they never had a permanent job in the first place.) The mermaid doesn't make any attempt to hide herself, but the villagers are unaware of her. When the daughter first encounters her, both characters are unsurprised and swim together like old friends, with no hesitation or getting-to-know-you scenes. I could go on and on.The filmmakers seem to have been making up the plot as they went along, while suffering some sort of amnesia as to what came before. Yes, it's a fantasy, but there is zero internal logic. And whenever they run out of ideas, they resort to gross-out jokes. (TWO crotch blows in 15 seconds? Give me a break.)I will, however, admit that all the leads are photogenic. I hope that next time they will read the script before signing up.