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"Rose Troche makes an auspicious debut as director, co-writer and editor of "Go Fish," a fresh, hip comedy about contemporary lifestyles within the lesbian community. Theatrical prospects are excellent for an all-female picture that is sharply observed, visually audacious and full of surprising charms. The most refreshing dimension of “Go Fish” is that it’s not dealing with coming out and it’s not burdened with the stiff, sanctimonious tone of such lesbian films as “Claire of the Moon.” Instead, the point of departure of scripters Troche and Turner is that women can — and do — live emotionally fulfilling lives in lesbian communities, without being stigmatized or penalized.
The comedy is off to a good start when Kia (T. Wendy McMillan), a mature black professor, is speculating with her students about who might be lesbian in American society. Kia, who is romantically involved with Evy (Migdalia Melendez) , an Hispanic divorcee, would like Max (Guinevere Turner), her younger, energetic roommate to meet a girl. She decides to set her up with Ely (V.S. Brodie), an ex-student of hers who’s in the process of terminating a long-distance relationship.
Through cross-cutting between the Max and Ely households, the well-written comedy conveys the folklore that women share when there are no men around. The whole story builds up to an hilarious date between Ely and Max, with their friends insisting on getting all the dirty details — the before, during and after. Small in scale, but full of truthful insights, “Go Fish” is charged with a fierce intelligence about how lesbians actually live.
EMANUEL LEVY, VARIETY
(Along with Christine Vachon, I am the Executive Producer of this film.)