I'm Reed Fish (2006)

Jay Baruchel stars in a movie! Exciting! Written by a real guy named Reed Fish and partly autobiographical, I'm Reed Fish follows the romantic mishaps experienced by the eponymous character. Reed is the head dj for popular local radio show The Fish in the small town of Mud Meadows. He's engaged to family friend Kate Peterson (Alexis Bledel) but their relationship has been strained due to her overly-detailed wedding preparations and his lack of assurance. When Jill (Schuyler Fisk), a childhood pal who'd escaped to law school but hopes to be a songwriter, returns for the first time in years, Reed finds himself torn between the two women as an old crush resurfaces. A little less than halfway into the movie, everything suddenly stops and we find out that what we've been watching is actually a film that Reed made about his own life, starring himself and several members of the town but with actresses as Kate and Jill. The film resumes but it is without a real ending, so he can only hope that after the screening his message got through to the right woman.

This was enjoyable mainly for its performances. Jay Baruchel was quite charming and funny, and I really liked Schuyler Fisk. DJ Qualls and Katey Sagal showed up for some excellent times as Jill's wacky cousin and The Fish's astrology reader/the Mud Meadows mayor, respectively. The plot was minimalist but there were some fun scenes and well-written conversations. The movie-within-a-movie thing isn't anything new but I liked that it was a surprise. The main issue with that tactic though is that as I watched Reed romance Kate and Jill as played by Bledel and Fisk, I then found it hard to believe him being in love with the "real" woman when the "movie" was over because it felt like a different person.

As the real Reed's first time writing and Zackary Adler's first time directing a feature-length, I'm Reed Fish is pretty good. The cast was cool and it was well-written, but nothing particularly special. I also really liked the songs sung by Fisk's character but I haven't been able to find mp3's. Video of "From Where I'm Standing" below.

3.5/5