Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

When it comes to romantic comedies, I feel there are certain elements that must be present in order to make it successful. 1) There should be undeniable chemistry between the two leads. Something that makes me want to root for them. 2) There needs to be some comedy. That's half the point of the romantic comedy. I want to laugh during the movie, or at least smile a few times. And 3) Don't just follow the standard formula... Give me something, anything, unexpected!

Kettle Of Fish stars Mathew Modine and Gina Gershon. Modine plays Mel, a bachelor who drifts from one meaningless relationship to the next. He comes home every night to the only constant in his life - his goldfish Daphne. Finally he decides he needs something steady in his life, so he moves in with his girlfriend-of-the-moment. All he has to do now, is lease his apartment.

Gershon is Ginger, a cute English biologist looking for an apartment in the city. You can see where this is going, right? She rents his apartment, and a day later he's back, having been kicked out by his girlfriend. He wants his apartment back, but Ginger reminds him that she has a signed lease. What can they possibly do about this situation? Well, they'll just have to share the apartment. She'll take the bedroom, and he'll take the couch.

There is a definite feeling of animosity between them. Plus, they're complete opposites in personality. He's a slob. She's a neat-freak. He works nights as a jazz musician. She works during the days as a researcher. Then there's the fact that he develops a crush on newly-married Diana, going to extreme measures to get to know her.

With all of these obstacles, will our two main leads EVER get together?

You didn't think I'd answer that, did you? I'll let you use your imagination on that one.

So how did this movie do on my required elements?

I would say that there is chemistry between the two leads. Despite their differences, I think they can complement each other. I was definitely rooting for them.

Now as far as comedy goes - this movie missed the mark. It tried. Really. But it just didn't work for me. Like the first time Mel comes to Diana's house and she mistakes him for the man who picks up their dry cleaning. I guess it was cute when she buries him under a giant pile of laundry. But not really laugh-out-loud funny. Then there are several scenes of Ginger at work. Did I mention that her test subjects are frogs and iguanas? Well, there's one frog in particular, named Casanova. There are a few cute scenes with him. But, again, nothing that really made me laugh.

As far as the predictability factor, the movie mostly followed the formula, but there were a few "surprises". Nothing that really makes it stand out from the pack, but it tried. If nothing else, the drama between Casanova and Daphne was pretty "different".

It was rated R for very brief sexual situations, but there was no nudity, and no bad language that I can remember. Frankly, I feel it would be OK for kids 13+, but I honestly don't think they'd enjoy it.

Overall, this is just an "OK" movie. The leads have some chemistry, and the movie manages to be somewhat different from the norm. Sadly, the comedy aspect completely fails. I wouldn't recommend it, per se, but it won't completely ruin your night if you happen to come across it, either.



Recommended: No