Catfish

Nev and the filmmakers prove to be charismatic, and at times hilarious, investigators of the unfolding mystery.

Catfish shows that the need to dispel lies isn't nearly as important as how we respond when we finally uncover the truth.

There are no "Crying Game" switcharoos or "Sixth Sense" plot twists in store here. But knowing too much about Catfish beforehand ruins the experience.

Catfish was built to charm, not indict, and on that front it makes for a diverting seriocomic wade into the pitfalls of Internet-based immediacy, and by extension, the manipulative mysteries of documentary assemblage.

One problem is that none of the characters are interesting and the situation is clichéd.

This is a film of warmth, humor, suspense and surprising grace.

I'll respect the studio's wishes to abbreviate all plot description. God knows, they're marketing it like the second coming of "The Crying Game," though the revelations that await Nev are only shocking if you believe P.T. Barnum was really in possession of a genuine Fiji mermaid.

I could not disagree more with the critics who described this film as "condescending" and "sleazy." I found it riveting, suspenseful (not a thriller, as others have mentioned, but suspenseful nonetheless), heartbreaking, and compassionate. Contrary to A. O. Scott of the New York Times' opinion, I thought it WAS "a brilliant exploration of the hidden corners of contemporary reality." See it before anyone wrecks it for you, and see it knowing as little about it as possible.

Felt a little contrived for the first half, but the payoff is a fascinating psychological study. Even though I could see the ending from a mile away, I'm surprised that I had a different emotional reaction than I had anticipated, and I think most fellow skeptics would concur.

The story was incredibly engaging and mysterious. At first. While it was very good and exiting, even suspenseful at times, the mystery was solved earlier than anticipated and as a result i found the last 30 minutes or so lackluster, boring and as a result i wasn't very compelled to finish it. After sitting through that last bit I wasn't really glad I stuck around and the end sort of made the whole conflict of the movie irrelevant. Also I think the trailers and stuff are over-hyped because it seems like it will "shock you" when in reality the secret is uncovered rather calmly, but i suppose that's just good marketing. While this review has been mostly negative don't get me wrong, i loved the first half. I just think the movie hit it's climax and died down too early, leaving the last bit lingering on.

Not nearly as good as it could have been. Predictable "twist", lacklustre ending, debatable whether the whole thing is even genuine. My advice, if you're going to watch this, don't pay to do so.

It's not just dull, this movie is too convenient to be anything other than staged. It's lacks the happenstance of being an accidental documentary and thereby sullies its own credibility. The trailer told a tale of thrilling intrigue that the actual movie could never deliver. Thus, the promotion felt like a lie just as the premise feels like a lie. I want to say that the acting was fairly good, but the makers denied it was acting at all, so it's hard to find anything complimentary to say. The only truth revealed by this cinematic attempt is that in making a fake documentary about how nothing is real on the internet, the filmmaker's own lack of honest adds credence to the notion that the world is full of convenient lies.