Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
Provoking but rather counterproductive
Zeljka - wrote on 05/07/2012
Not really sure what to think about this documentary - fake or not, it is provoking. Haven't ever had such online relationships, and never thought of lying online to anyone either if different name for a sake of anonymity doesn't count. While watching the movie, I felt at the same time scared, puzzled and embarrassed - scared because the fact you do not know really with whom do you communicate when online (on the other side might be a psycho, how to ever be certain that he/she won't ever track you down to your door?), puzzled because I do not understand why would somebody smart, gentle and handsome (not my type, but certainly is for many women, especially in NY) seek a virtual relationship, and embarrassed because I felt like I'm peeking into someone's intimacy, which this certainly was …
Rating of
2.5/4
Catfish
Harley Lond - wrote on 02/20/2012
Here's a documentary about the world of online social relationships that starts out as a love story and ends up as a detective mystery. Nev, a 24-year-old New York-based photographer (and brother to the film's co-director), meets online an 8-year-old girl from rural Michigan who sends him a painting she made of one of his photos. Nev begins a friendship and correspondence with the girl's family and even develops a cyber-romance with her attractive older sister, a musician and model. But some things about the family don't ring true, and Nev, his brother (Ariel Schulman) and co-director Henry Joost hit the road in search of the truth.Doubts have arisen as to how much of "Catfish" was planned from the outset (it does look like there were staged scenes along the way), but truth be told, …
Rating of
2.5/4
Is it true? Hmmmm....
patjohnson76 - wrote on 02/12/2011
I'm really torn on this one. There's an interesting story here as a young man discovers that his online friendship with a whole network of people eventually unravels to something he didn't expect it to be. Without spoiling anything (though it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going to happen), there is a good build-up to a climax here that's rewarding in its payoff.
But that's just it - it feels too much like a STORY and not something that really happened. I've seen a lot of documentaries, and things just happen too perfectly here for someone "creating" a documentary. The first half hour seems incredibly fake. Seriously, what "filmmaker" decides they're going to create a documentary about their friend's online friendship with someone else? That's not interesting at all! While …
Rating of
1.5/4
eh
Nerva - wrote on 01/21/2011
I'm on the fence of the 'real' not real situation surrounding this film. The opening scenes during the first 30 mins just look so fake and contrived to me, and also makes little sense. Unless they just happened to be filming everything and anything about their lives at that point why would they think to film a guy having an online chat with a girl he just met and making a 'documentary' about their online relationship that hasn't begun yet if they didn't know where it would end up? But that part aside it is no where near as shocking as the trailers would have you believe. In that aspect its a let down but what is interesting is how they showed the reasons why people do the things they do, how certain people use the internet as an escape from reality and how quickly, and seriously you can …
Rating of
3.5/4
Shocked at how good this movie is!
Alex - wrote on 01/16/2011
Yes this movie is a documentary and has little replay value, the overall film was shocking to me. Shocking because it was so well done. For newbie film makers, this is great work. The title says it all, really.
I like documentaries OK, but usually don't rate them high because of the rewatchability factor. Who needs to see facts over and over again (unless of course you are a history teacher). But this movie stands out from most of the rest. For me, this is like Cloverfield, but real (ok, no monsters in it but you get my point).
I honestly can't say much about the film. It is simply amazing how the film begins to twist and turn. Very well done and a must see for any facebook user, long distance relationship seeker, and many other types of people. Yes, the plot is predictable, but …
