The Goldfish

BETA CINEMA

In director Alireza Golafshan’s The Goldfish — deemed a “good-natured comedy about tax evasion and disability” — all is what it seems. A broad comedy with elements of money laundering, heist and road trip films and what The Goldfish lacks in humour it makes up for with its sweet nature.

The protagonist, Oliver, is a workaholic portfolio manager who becomes a paraplegic in the film’s almost too-giddy opening sequence. Oliver, despite being a familiar character to most audiences — the self-centred money man who gets his comeuppance and turns his life around—is brought to earnest life by the James McAvoy-lookalike Tom Schilling. 

Winding up in a group home for people with disabilities — Oliver enlists his unwitting roommates in a scheme to save some dirty money in Switzerland. From there, The Goldfish becomes a hybrid of the genres mentioned above, and while it doesn’t quite take off into the stratosphere, it remains consistent enough in its tone and messaging to be an enjoyable feel-good story. 

Golafshan keeps the comedy light and the technical aspects at ground level. There isn’t much to praise from a cinematographic standpoint, but there also isn’t too much to knock. It gets the job done and even has a pleasing colour palette, something that other comedies could learn from. The comedic bits are too general and eager-to-please to be effective, but there are a few stylishly edited interludes that induce a few chuckles, albeit no belly laughs. 

One of the more notable aspects of the production are some on-the-nose needle drops. Ranging from Thus Spake Zarathustra in an ill-fated attempt at a 2001 reference to the aptly titled Self Control (used to calm down an autistic man), the soundtrack gives a little bit of buoyancy and forward momentum to a film that otherwise lacks energy or stakes.  

Not that the stakes really matter here. The Goldfish knows exactly what it is and mostly keeps to the basics. Even though it follows a predictable character arc and will never really keep audiences guessing as to where the film is headed, it avoids the worst cliches that could come with a film like this. The romance between Oliver and the head carer, Laura (Jella Haase) is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it and the film never has an overly-cloying moment in its 111-minute runtime. 

Maybe it is a little bit too long for a film like this, but the heart at the centre of The Goldfish shines brightly through keeping its viewers’ attention. There is nothing ground-breaking or even fresh about The Goldfish, but it has enough charm (plus a few jokes at the expense of video chat that are perfect for these times) to make for an engaging film about tax evasion and disability.