**Warning: spoilers**

The Irish film Goldfish Memory, which has now been shown at several of this year’s gay and lesbian film festivals, focuses on the pitfalls and pratfalls of finding love in modern society. I’d been looking forward to seeing this movie for about six months; judging from the preview, it looked cute, romantic and funny.

What it turned out to be was a refreshing outlook on relationships coupled with poor plotting and a lack of heart.

The story begins when Tom (Sean Campion), a professor who has made a career out of sleeping with his students, informs his latest conquest Clara (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) that goldfish have only a three-second memory, so that just swimming around the bowl is always new to the fish. The film's premise is that the same is true of humans and love—each time we fall in love, it is like the first time. When we meet someone new, as Tom articulates, we quickly forget the heartache of our last relationship.

Unfortunately for Clara, Tom has already begun to move on to new conquests such as Isolde (Fiona Glascott), a no-nonsense student. Clara moves on as well, and is soon asked out by journalist Angie (Flora Montgomery). This sets in motion several relationships which involve Angie’s best friend, Tom’s colleague, and several others.

Gay, straight or bisexual, the film takes no prisoners when it comes to relationships. Characters fall in and out of love, and along the way wrestle with issues related to their sexuality. The fluid sexuality of the characters provides for a refreshing and laid-back comedy that begs the question: why shouldn’t people be able to fall in love with whomever they want? The film also offers the type of homosexual who will, on occasion, sleep with someone of the opposite sex; It will be interesting to see if this becomes a growing trend in film and television (perhaps a play on the term "heteroflexible" should be introduced here: “homoflexible"?)

While this open interaction between the characters is fun to watch, some clichés inevitably get in the way. The bisexual characters in the film are non-monogamous, lending credence to the idea that bisexuals will sleep with anyone, and the onerous “pregnant lesbian” storyline makes its way into the latter half of the film. Not only is this plotline annoying because it's one of the biggest clichés in lesbian-related stories, but the pregnancy in Goldfish Memory is the result of a night of protected heterosexual sex (while it is entirely possible for pregnancy to result from protected sex, it doesn’t happen as often as the media would have us believe).

For a movie billed as a romantic comedy, there isn’t too much romance. The comedy part is there, and although there are a lot of people having sex in the film (there are no fewer than 12 characters and almost as many hook-ups), not many of the characters seem to officially “connect” with each other. In some ways, this lack of romance works for the film. The viewer is not given the chance to get attached to any one couple, which allows the mood to stay light-hearted. At the same time, it also makes it difficult for the audience to identify with or care about the characters.

While some portions of the film flow well, others lag. The storylines shift back and forth smoothly enough, but the rotating nature of the story’s romances becomes tiring towards the final third of the film. This is not a good time to lose the audience, when many of the characters are growing out of their “goldfish mentality.” The movie also suffers from a poor sense of timing: certain couples seem to have been together for awhile—with one couple getting engaged and another deciding to have children—only for the audience to discover that about three weeks have past. In other places the story seems to skip several weeks (or even months), with little warning.

Despite its flaws, however, watching Goldfish Memory was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. This is a fun comedy that is neither cheesy nor over-the-top. There are several amusing moments in the film, as well as a ton of eye candy. The sets are beautiful, the background shots are fantastic, and there is not a homely face in the cast. The acting and direction is also top-notch, providing the audience with a case of loveable characters. It will be interesting to see what else writer and director Liz Gill comes up with—I only hope she takes a few more chances with her next project.

Goldfish Memory is now available on DVD