Two brothers look for love under unusual circumstances in this independent comedy. Chris Remi (Derek Martini) and his brother Tony (Steven Martini) have an unusual family background: their parents, an Italian-American man and a Native-American woman, met on a tour of a Hollywood studio, and their Grandmother bestowed on them semi-traditional American Indian names, "Goat on Fire" and "Smiling Fish." These days, high-strung Chris and good-natured Tony share the house they grew up in following their parents' death in a traffic accident. Chris is having problems with his girlfriend Alison (Amy Hathaway), who bursts into tears whenever they have sex; meanwhile, Tony's girlfriend Nicole (Heather Jae Marie) is ready to give Tony his walking papers if he can't straighten himself out, though he's already got his eye on Kathy (
Christa Miller), who delivers the mail in his neighborhood. Chris, who works for an accounting firm, is asked one day by his boss to pick up his Uncle Clive (
Bill Henderson) from the airport. Clive used to work as a soundman for a independent African-American film company in the 1940s; he loves to reminisce about the old days and compares love to capturing "the perfect magnetic wave." Clive proves to be a romantic catalyst when Chris meets Anna (Rosemarie Addeo), an Italian immigrant who trains animals, and a fast friendship looks like it could grow into something more. The feature-film debut for
Martin Scorsese protege Kevin Jordan, Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish) won the Film Discovery at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide