Fishing With John – Criterion Collection

Description

The thought of watching somebody fishing is, to me, the height of existential folly. As Estragon says in Becket’s Waiting for Godot, “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.” Thus was my apprehension great when faced with the task of watching 147 minutes of men fishing. However, my delight was substantial when I found myself completely captivated by this series of fishing trips, culled from the early 1990s television program, Fishing with John.Noted jazz musician and occasional actor John Lurie (Down by Law) is our guide to this romp through the world’s marine stomping grounds. Along for the various rides are Jim Jarmusch, Tom Waits, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe and Dennis Hopper, while documentary specialist Robb Webb provides the wonderful narration. The premise of the program is simple: get to the fishing hole (whether by car, plane, horse, canoe, foot or tugboat), toss your lines in the water, and record everything, in the hope that you might catch some interesting conversation.

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