Brooke Bloom

A musician conditioned by his anti-capitalistic beliefs, struggling to make a living for his wife and young daughter, finds hope from a runaway Parisian artist trying to escape the shadows of her famous painter mother. Shot like any other independent film expected from a beginning filmmaker, Lola Bessis’ dramatic comedy branches out and is smartly defined by layers of inner conflict. With New York City playing as the film’s backdrop of emotion, Swim Little Fish Swim can easily fall into today’s better city-based dramadies. It’s relatable in conflict, yet unique in effects. It’s loud in its choices of art and music, yet refreshing when establishing character relationships. There are elements in the film we have not seen on the big screen, and there are elements that feel all too familiar. It’s both large at heart, but small in scope. It’s everything chaotic and silent one would expect from life’s inner toil, making it a direct observation of life in the big city.

“Elevator” continues its dreamlike examination of Louie’s psyche this week, with our increasingly insecure lead pushing his relationship with Amia to the next level and losing it in the process. Louie spends quite a bit of these two episodes validating his romance with Amia to other people in his life and as they voice their doubts, Louie grows more and more self-conscious. At the start of “Elevator Part 4”, Louie and Amia are out at a hockey game, having a great time; Louie practically glows when Janet asks about his new leading lady. It’s sweet and just like Janet, viewers will be happy to see our sad-sack protagonist in a positive place, emotionally.