Themes: Haunted By the Past, Saintly Fools, Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance
Main Cast: Lynn Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Margot Kidder
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Charles Burnett directed this offbeat comic romance about a pair of aging eccentrics whose imaginary companions sometimes interfere with their "real" lives. Fish (James Earl Jones) is an elderly Jamaican expatriate who has spend much of his adult life in a mental institution in New York. One of the clearest manifestations of Fish's madness is Hank, an imaginary nemesis whom Fish must often beat until he obeys. After he's released, Fish heads to Los Angeles, where he takes a room in a boarding house run by Mrs. Muldroone (Margot Kidder). Living across the hall from Fish is Poinsetta (Lynn Redgrave), an older woman who may be crazier than Fish: she drinks a great deal, loves to listen to Puccini, and is convinced that the long-dead composer is following her around (and is in love with her). In time, Fish and Poinsetta become friends and then lovers, but when she accidentally "kills" Hank, Fish is suddenly robbed of one of the only constants in his life. The Annihilation of Fish was screened in the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Christine Peters - Costume Designer, Kris Krengel - First Assistant Director, Charles Burnett - Director, Nancy Richardson - Editor, Kris Dodge - Executive Producer, Arlene Albertson - Line Producer, Laura Karpman - Composer (Music Score), Nina Ruscio - Production Designer, John Ndiaga Demps - Cinematographer, Paul Heller - Producer, John F. Remark - Producer, William Fabrizio - Producer, Eric Mitchell - Producer, Matt Callahan - Set Designer, Veda Campbell - Sound/Sound Designer, Anthony C. Winkler - Screenwriter
