Dream with the Fishes

This arresting semi-autobiographical debut is a latter-day On the Road. Suicidal, voyeuristic 'suit' Terry (Arquette) is talked down from his perch on the Golden Gate Bridge by cool, gun- toting dude Nick (Hunt) who persuades him to take sleeping pills instead, which Nick will provide as long as he can watch Terry die. It turns out Nick himself is dying of leukaemia, the pills are vitamins, and when Terry recovers at the hospital, fighting mad, they have a set-to that ends in a bargain: Terry will bankroll a go-for-it trip for the pair of them; Nick can live out his fantasies and then kill Terry in return. The celebratory laddish episodes - getting it on with prostitutes, a robbery at a pharmacy, yelling hell from a church bell tower - are mostly undercut by these guys' pain, confusion and shortness of time. In this regard, Hunt's more understated performance is essential. Arquette grates as, presumably, the auteur stand-in, and the women don't get much of a look in. It's finely shot though and moves along crisply to the beat of its atmospheric modern blues and indie soundtrack.