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Contains very strong language and hard drugs themeSydney-based drama Little Fish slips through the net of Hollywood convention - well, until the last ten minutes anyway. It's a tidy showcase for Cate Blanchett as a recovering drug addict struggling to throw off the shackles of her past, but Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving also shine in this murky yet arrestingly dreamlike world, created by up-and-coming director Rowan Woods. Woods' fractured composition is at times frustrating, but with such glowing performances he does hold it all together.
Woods immediately throws us in at the deep end, eschewing the usual polite introductions for a voyeuristic approach to the characters. Blanchett is Tracy, a 32-year-old video shop manager who lives with her mum (an entertainingly flustered Noni Hazlehurst) while trying to wangle a loan to buy a share in the business. It's a modest aspiration but there are hurdles at every turn: the bank, her drug-dealing brother (Martin Henderson), her heroin fiend of a father figure (Weaving) and shady ex-lover Dustin Nguyen.
"GLOWING PERFORMANCES"
Woods uses their complex and brutal interactions to draw you in gradually, although after the first half hour it does feel overindulgent. Fortunately Blanchett is able to cut beneath Tracy's surface vulnerability and convey a deeper sense of purpose which immerses you in her plight. As a gangster with a dare-you-to-mock comb-over, Sam Neill raises the stakes. But as the tempo picks up in the final stages, Woods veers into genre territory with less conviction. Nonetheless it's a credit to the director and his cast that - even with its rough edges - Little Fish keeps you hooked.
