Sleeping with the Fishes is a 2013

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film written and directed by Nicole Gomez Fisher. It stars

Gina Rodriguez Gina Alexis Rodriguez-LoCicero (born July 30, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her leading role as Jane Villanueva in The CW satirical romantic dramedy series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019), for which she received a Golden Glob ...

Ana Ortiz Ana Ortiz (born January 25, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Having pursued a career in ballet and singing from a young age, she eventually attended University of the Arts. Ortiz began her acting career in theatre, in early 2000s starred ...

and

Priscilla Lopez Priscilla Lopez (born February 26, 1948) is an American singer, dancer, and actress. She is perhaps best known for creating the role of Diana Morales in ''A Chorus Line''. She has had the distinction of appearing in two Broadway landmarks: one o ...

. The film is loosely based on Fisher’s upbringing as part of a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

household. The film premiered on June 1, 2013 at the

Brooklyn Film Festival The Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), prior to 2011 called the Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) is an independent film festival held every June in Brooklyn, New York. Started by Marco Ursino, Susan Mackell, Abe Schrager, and Mario Pegoraro ...

, where it won the award for Best New Director. It was later picked up by Broken Glass Pictures, who gave the film a limited release on January 3, 2014.

Plot

Alexis "Lexi" Fish lives in Los Angeles and works as a mascot and occasional

phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. All parties participate voluntarily; it is typically accompanied ...

operator, struggling to get by after the death of her husband. After an estranged aunt dies, she returns to New York to attend her funeral. While there, she butts heads with her overly critical mother, Estella. Meanwhile, her well-meaning older sister Kayla arranges a last-minute job for Lexi to plan the Bat Mitzvah party for the daughter of one of their acquaintances, Mrs. Wasserstein. Lexi also encounters the handsome Dominic, who runs a club and has a young son. She reveals to him that while she and her husband were high school sweethearts with outwardly successful lives, he repeatedly cheated on her during their marriage and left her with debt after his death. Despite her initial reluctance to plan the Bat Mitzvah party, Lexi is eventually able to throw it together, confronting the overbearing Mrs. Wasserstein in the process and also gaining the courage to reveal her husband's flaws to her mother.

Cast

Production

Director Nicole Gomez Fisher was originally reluctant to direct but came on board after being unable to find anyone else to direct her script. Gina Rodriguez was offered the lead role after Fisher saw her in ''

Filly Brown ''Filly Brown'' is a 2012 drama film directed by Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won Best Feature Film at the 2013 Noor Iranian Film Festival. The whole cast won ...

''.

Reception

Richard Propes of ''The Independent Critic'' wrote, "The film's greatest value may very well be the remarkable chemistry displayed between Rodriguez and Ortiz, whose performances are so radiating of that sibling sensibility that it's hard not to wonder if they really are siblings. Rodriguez adds the film's emotional resonance, while Ortiz gives the film a delightful spark and energy - together they are an absolute delight."

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for five

Imagen Awards The Imagen Awards are administered by the Imagen Foundation, an organization dedicated to "encouraging and recognizing the positive portrayals of Latinos in film, Latinos in the entertainment industry." To be considered for an Imagen Award, a medi ...

, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress and Supporting Actress for

and

. Fisher won the award for Best New Director at the

References

External links

Official website
* * {{rotten-tomatoes, sleeping_with_the_fishes_2013 2013 films 2013 comedy films 2013 romantic comedy films 2013 independent films American comedy films American romantic comedy films American independent films Films set in Brooklyn Films about Jews and Judaism Films about dysfunctional families Films about sisters Films about mother–daughter relationships Semi-autobiographical films