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R: ARCHIVE, S: REVIEWS, D: 07/03/1997,

Dream with the Fishes

Like Gregg Araki's The Living End, Dream with the Fishes revolves around two protagonists who embark on a hell-bent "Tomorrow we die" odyssey. This unlikely (and straight) duo, Terry (David Arquette), a suicidal yuppie and burgeoning voyeur who cannot come to terms with his wife's death, and Nick (Brad Hunt), a terminally ill junkie, meet under ominous circumstances: Terry can't summon the nerve to kill himself, so Nick offers to help carry out the deed if Terry will bankroll one final, fantasy-filled outing. With ease and sadistic glee, Nick pushes Arquette's repressed Terry to the edge, kicking off the death pact with a handful of hallucinogenic drugs and some odd little sexcapades (including naked bowling?), but as the clock winds down, things turn weighty and the two hit the road for Nick's final reckoning with his dysfunctional family.

The premise may sound titillating, but writer/director Finn Taylor tries too hard, and his loosely autobiographical drama comes off alarmingly stiff and contrived. The innovative cinematography by Barry Stone and the smoky cool soundtrack help keep the film palatable, though the only real winner is Hunt. He's bitten into a sexy, idiosyncratic role that should do for his career what The Doom Generation did for Johnathon Schaech. At the Kendall Square and the West Newton and in the suburbs.

-- Tom Meek