The things they say...Fish Tank

http://pocketcinephile.blogspot.com/2010/01/fish-tank-andrea-arnold-2009.html

and the ever-solid Michael Fassbender is at once disarming and unsettling as the lecherous Connor.

http://willlink.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/fish-tank-a-brief-review/

This film takes many turns in all the characters relationships but even the ones that you see coming never play out the way you expect them. Michael Fassbender, who was brilliant in Inglorious Basterds, has a very complex role to play here. He successfully walks the line between charmer and creep – neither of which can fully define him.

There is a scene between Fassbender and Jarvis, in which the tension between them finally boils over, that is one of the most real and beautifully shots sequences in my recent memory.

http://www.filmradar.com/reviews/item/fish_tank/#When:03:21:46Z

Arnold shrewdly casts the charismatic Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) as Connor, and his more polished style of acting is a perfect fit for the character and a great counterpoint to the edginess that Jarvis brings. Fassbender walks a fine line here; he’s convincingly scary at times, but he also has a number of moments with Mia that are filled with real tenderness. A lesser actor would have played Connor as a monster, but Fassbender gives him depth.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2010/01/fish-tank/

Irish-raised Michael Fassbender turns in another incredible performance (right on the heels of Hunger and Inglourious Basterds), once again proving that he’s the master of accents. He fills Connor with the right amount of charm, slyness and just a hint of nearly intangible off-ness.

http://extremefuns.com/2010/01/18/fish-tank-review/

The filmmaking mimics Mia’s own sexual attraction to Connor, the camera ogling him and the soundtrack reduced to the sound of his breathing, but his motivations are much fuzzier. Fassbender plays the character’s every ambiguous note perfectly, and Arnold shapes the film so strongly around Mia’s attraction to him that we catch ourselves from time to time rooting for a hookup that we intellectually know will be disastrous.

http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/reviews/specialty-releases/e3i3602f61793f3cd8826ced07884f2baed

Fassbender and Wareing give honest and open performances as the conflicted adults and young Griffiths, another first-timer, is memorably sharp as the kid sister.

http://trustmovies.blogspot.com/2010/01/andrea-arnolds-fish-tank-british.html

Into an already fractured household, mom introduces her latest boyfriend, played by the immensely appealing, versatile and highly sexual actor Michael Fassbender (shown below, from Ozon's Angel and from Eden Lake and the recent Hunger). The fire starts slowly but sparks do fly.

http://filmsmell.com/?p=323

Great acting from Michael Fassbender and the rest of the cast, and believe me he owed us one after EDEN LAKE (see below).

http://www.mrmovietimes.com/movie-news/fish-tank/

Fassbender, of Inglourious Basterds and Hunger, is making fast progress to A-list leading-man status.
Fassbender is extremely good-looking with his shirt off, and he has a soft accent that almost sounds like a New Yorker’s (I doubt if he’ll need any vocal coaching to do American films). All this is gossip compared to what he really has: a serious actor’s humor and humanity. He’s taking a risk, too, playing a character many would be ready to condemn as a molester.

http://www.xreticentreviews.com/2010/02/review-fish-tank.html

When Mia is introduced to her mother’s latest boyfriend, CONNOR, (played exceptionally by MICHAEL FASSBENDER - who some may recognize from his also exceptional appearance in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) there’s an obvious tension between the two.

http://filmblog.michaeldoud.com/2010/01/31/fish-tank.aspx?ref=rss

Fassbender was also very good and brought a level of compassion and inappropriate behavior to his character.

http://themoviejerk.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-tank-2009-dir-andrea-arnold-uk.html

This search of one’s self comes to full tilt when he meets her mother’s new boyfriend, a simmering, charismatic yet dangerous Wickes-worker Connor (a magnetic turn by Michael Fassbender), whose scenes with any trace of bare skin is sensually captured by Arnold’s camerawork from the perspective of Mia. In fact, the film is emotionally alive between Mia and Connor’s interplay, making the scenes electric with tension. His tenderness, which veers from paternalistic to sometimes harbouring menace, baffles Mia as she finds herself gently yielding to his charms.

Arnold directs with grit, grace and poetic justice, supplemented with Jarvis’ ferocious yet achingly human central performance and Fassbender’s mesmeric turn.

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2010/02/film/female-trouble

Her mother’s new boyfriend, Connor, gives Mia something else to dream about. As played by Michael Fassbender, he’s a hottie—the movie’s first glimpse of him, shirtless in low-slung jeans, provides a sizzling demonstration of the female gaze—but he’s also sweetly paternal toward Mia and her little sister, a fatherless adolescent’s oedipal wet dream. When Mia shows him an ad seeking dancers, he encourages her to try out. “You dance like a black,” he tells her, then adds, “That’s a compliment.” No wonder the girl is smitten.

http://newcityfilm.com/2010/02/03/lifes-an-itch-andrea-arnolds-rude-road-in-fish-tank-review/

(Consider Fassbender, emaciate in “Hunger,” witty in “Inglourious Basterds” and sexually succulent here, and you arrive at one conclusion: a huge, huge star in just a minute or two from now.)

http://trendaway.com/2010/02/04/fish-tank-2009-tiff09/

Michael Fassbender is brilliant as usual and it was great to see him deliver another fine performance, sandwiched between his grueling portrayal of Bobby Sands and his equally intense LT. Archie Hicox.

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-15/126531016593470.xml&storylist=entertainment

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/04/AR2010020401428.html

The plot of "Fish Tank" takes off when Mia's mum brings home an attractive lover named Connor, played by Michael Fassbender with quiet, seductive guilelessness. (Most recently seen in "Inglourious Basterds," Fassbender delivered his own breathtaking breakout performance as Bobby Sands in "Hunger.") Connor, it seems, might finally give Mia the protection and support she has clearly been missing most of her life.

http://www.pitaoe.com/2010/02/henry-saw-fish-tank_05.html

Mia is played Katie Jarvis and Connor is played by Michael Fassbender. They both knock it out of the park. Fassbender (who you might know from 300, Inglourious Basterds, or Hunger) is especially good in a very hard role.

http://www.cinefundas.com/2010/02/05/fish-tank-english-movie-review

In “Fish Tank,” trouble comes in the form of Joanne’s new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender), all lean muscles and laughter.

Arnold takes more than a few risks with her characters, willing to let us loathe them as well as love them, depending on the moment, unwilling to make it easy for either us or them.Fassbender, whom you might know from his very funny turn as an undercover agent who’s done in by a bad drink order in “Inglourious Basterds’ ” tavern scene, is excellent at walking that tight-wire of dark possibilities.

http://summerday.hautetfort.com/archive/2010/02/04/fish-tank.html

Moreover, the casting is perfect and every character was well written, it is Mia's younger sister, mother or Connor (played by the amazing Michael Fassbender) who illuminates every frame.

http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/599/movie-review-fish-tank/1703852

Fassbender, who appeared in Inglourious Basterds and Hunger, has quickly risen to the ranks of an actor who makes any project better. He continues to impress every time out. Even Wareing's contribution shouldn't be underappreciated. The whole cast is effective, a praise that goes back to the way Arnold works with actors.

http://www.411mania.com/movies/film_reviews/129137

When she brings home a new handsome lad, Connor (played by the ever overachieving Michael Fassbender), we get an uncomfortable, creepy vibe right off the bat.

The film is anchored by its two leading performers, Jarvis and Fassbender, and let us hope critics groups remember and recognize them in the Fall of 2010. Jarvis is a very earnest performer with an expressive face and subtle body positioning. Observe the scene where she sits down on the couch with Fassbender after the mother has gone upstairs to bed. Jarvis sits away from him, out of reach of his impending advances. When she moves closer, she looks uncomfortable but not unwilling, and Fassbender is sleazy but freakishly father-like. The two actors handle this unpleasant exchange remarkably well, and this also holds true for an earlier scene in which Fassbender undresses a drunken Jarvis and observes her developing figure. Tough scenes for any actor, but these two commit to them fully and give Fish Tank its depth and backbone.

http://filminsider.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-tank.html

That said, Michael Fassbender is one to watch and something can be learned from “Fish Tank” not from the story but of observing his talent. Fassbender, you might remember, played good guy Lt. Archie Hicox who gets a briefing by Mike Myers in “Inglorious Bastereds.” He’s as talented and charismatic as Ewan McGregor, or perhaps a brainier version of Matthew McConaughey.

http://filmswithasideoffrotch.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-tank.html

But then in comes Mommy's new boyfriend (the cunning and striking Michael Fassbender of "Inglourious Basterds" fame) to rock the boat. It's one of those movies where it's like, He's cool... or is he?

http://tcf-fish-finders.com/Movie_Review_A_teenager_drowning_in_misery_in_the_powerful_Fish_Tank

The plot of "Fish Tank" takes off when Mia"s mum brings home an attractive lover named Connor, played by Michael Fassbender with quiet, alluring,sexy guilelessness. (Most recently seen in "Inglourious Basterds," Fassbender brought his own breathtaking escape performance as Bobby Sands in "Hunger.")

http://popcornparadise2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-and-chips.html

Michael Fassbender, recognised as the Englishman in Inglorious Basterds, is brilliant here. Shows his true acting chops by pulling this film about chav culture into a heart warming tale of growing up and not always rebelling. He plays the character well giving him a personality of sliminess and general affection for children, and his pushing for their future and career, especially the lead character Mia, played by first time actor Katie Jarvis.