Smiling Fish & Goat on Fire

Theatrical Release Date: 2000 08 25 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 658149785328

Studio: Lions Gate

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Adult Language, Adult Humor, Substance Abuse, Sexual Situations]

Summary: Two brothers look for love under unusual circumstances in this independent comedy. Chris Remi (Derek Martini) and his brother Tony (Steven Martini) have an unusual family background: their parents, an Italian-American man and a Native-American woman, met on a tour of a Hollywood studio, and their Grandmother bestowed on them semi-traditional American Indian names, "Goat on Fire" and "Smiling Fish." These days, high-strung Chris and good-natured Tony share the house they grew up in following their parents' death in a traffic accident. Chris is having problems with his girlfriend Alison (Amy Hathaway), who bursts into tears whenever they have sex; meanwhile, Tony's girlfriend Nicole (Heather Jae Marie) is ready to give Tony his walking papers if he can't straighten himself out, though he's already got his eye on Kathy (Christa Miller), who delivers the mail in his neighborhood. Chris, who works for an accounting firm, is asked one day by his boss to pick up his Uncle Clive (Bill Henderson) from the airport. Clive used to work as a soundman for a independent African-American film company in the 1940s; he loves to reminisce about the old days and compares love to capturing "the perfect magnetic wave." Clive proves to be a romantic catalyst when Chris meets Anna (Rosemarie Addeo), an Italian immigrant who trains animals, and a fast friendship looks like it could grow into something more. The feature-film debut for Martin Scorsese protege Kevin Jordan, Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire won the Film Discovery at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Comedy Drama

Awards: Discovery Award – Toronto International Film Festival

Features: Letterbox image
Dolby Stereo audio
Production commentary
Trailer
Deleted scenes
Interactive menus
Scene access
English, Spanish, and French subtitles

Smiling Fish & Goat on Fire

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 08/21/2001

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 92 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Index
1. Family Album [2:10]
2. Girlfriend Problems [2:45]
3. Breakfast [3:47]
4. Chauffer [4:04]
5. Mail Lady [4:15]
6. Rebecca [3:10]
7. Apology [5:09]
8. Party [7:49]
9. Morning After [2:20]
10. Little Terror [2:36]
11. Animal Wrangler [3:31]
12. Buckle Up [1:38]
13. Demonstration [3:13]
14. Rugby [3:56]
15. Bed [7:31]
16. Pumpkinhead [3:46]
17. Viva Italia [4:35]
18. News [3:46]
19. Paternity [3:30]
20. Mistake [1:23]
21. It's Gonna Be OK [3:28]
22. Wyoming [6:30]
23. One More Chance [3:04]
24. Credits [4:09]

Karl Williams

This charming, low-budget romantic comedy is a festival award winner and marks the feature film debut of co-writer and director Kevin Jordan as well as the film's real-life brothers/stars. As (respectively) Chris "Goat on Fire" and Tony "Smiling Fish" Remi, Derick Martini and Steven Martini provide their characters with the warmth and charm of young men whose development has been long-arrested. Criticized by some for its affability, Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire is indeed a slight film, but the tone matches the subject matter well. Really about that moment in the lives of young men that so many Generation X "slacker"-type projects address, when childhood slips away and the mantle of adult responsibility is assumed, Jordan's film doesn't lose sight of the fact that these moves are often small ones -- universal in nature but usually insignificant to others. Jordan suggests that this emotional growth spurt doesn't have to be a big deal and can have its own loopy sense of fun; while not a grand statement in the tradition of telegraphed big-budget message pictures, it is just right in a small, well-scripted independent film produced on a budget under 50 grand. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Kevin Jordan  Director 
Kevin Jordan  Producer 
Kevin Jordan  Screenwriter 
Steven Martini  Producer 
Steven Martini  Screenwriter 
Derick Martini  Producer 
Derick Martini  Screenwriter 
Brittany Taylor  Producer 
Tommy Lynch  Executive Producer 
Sheilah Graham  Executive Producer 
Chris Horvath  Composer (Music Score) 
Derick Martini  Actor 
Christa Miller  Actor 
Steven Martini  Actor 
Bill Henderson  Actor 
Amy Hathaway  Actor 
Rosemarie Addeo  Actor 
Heather Jae Marie  Actor 
Nicole Rae  Actor 
Wesley Thompson  Actor 

Country: USA