Shooting Fish

1998 "Fat cats are too easy. Go for the big fish."
6.5| 1h49m| PG| en
Details

Two con artists hire an unwitting medical-school student (Kate Beckinsale) as a secretary for their latest scam.

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Reviews

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Dynesh Vijayaraghavan Normally when it comes to voting for movies on the IMDb, I'm quite liberal. I don't set very high standards for movies. I always tend to rate films based on how much I enjoy them and this means that most of the time I always rate films highly cos I try and find something good in every film I see. I saw this film when I was vacationing in England. BBC One actually transmitted this at 11 PM, since they believed that The Peacemaker was a film more deserving of the 9:00 slot. Unlike the Peacemaker, Shooting Fish is a film that almost anybody would enjoy, unless he/she was the kind of person who found simple effective storytelling a turnoff.Everything about this movie seems in perfect harmony. The chemistry between Dan Futterman and Stuart Townsend is perfect, word for word. And Kate Beckinsale is a perfect third piece to the puzzle; When the conversations in the movie occur, you never get the feeling you're watching a contrived conversation written by someone else, you get the feeling you're watching real life unfold. That's a hallmark of a good scriptwriter and the people who wrote this deserve credit for the story.As for the story itself, it never lets itself become too complicated and lends itself to a lot of funny situations. Fast-talking Dylan and socially naive Jez (Futterman and Townsend) are two con men trying to raise money to build their dream house. They end up enlisting Georgina's (short-haired Kate Beckinsale in a beautiful role from her pre-Hollywood Glamourpuss days) help on a particular scam. Soon she discovers what they're up to and the story unfolds from there, with both Dylan and Jez seemingly falling for Georgie. Here again, the movie doesn't nosedive and morph into a conventional love story; rather, the romance builds in a backdrop to the main story and culminates in a heartwarming finale. As for Dan and Jez, some of their schemes may not be very believable and yet you cant help but be amused by the way they go about implementing them. This film is a good reason why small budget comedy romances are popular - simply put, they work. On every level. Watching this film gives you the same kind of feeling as watching While you were Sleeping, for example. For the sheer sweetness of the film and for Kate Beckinsale's performance, I'd give it 7 on 10.
didi-5 This movie by Stefan Schwartz (co-written with Richard Holmes) thinks it is cleverer than it actually is, and comes out as an odd hybrid of crime caper and romance.Two conmen - the charmless Dan Futterman as American Dylan, and geeky Stuart Townsend as Jez - have long-standing dreams of making lots of cash by any means to fund their very own stately home. Posh totty Kate Beckinsale as Georgie (a doctor-in-training with secretarial skills) joins them as the beauty and brains of the team and causes havoc between them.Involved in this semi-engaging brew are voice recognition computer systems, cremation, loft insulation, blow-up dolls, light sabres, a tatty old racehorse, £50 bills, and the music of Burt Bacharach. Glimpsed in the cast are Phyllis Logan, Annette Crosbie, Peter Capaldi, Jane Lapotaire, Nickolas Grace, Nicholas Woodeson, and (in a small but wickedly funny role as Georgie's boyfriend) Dominic Mafham.'Shooting Fish' is fairly enjoyable but tends to shoot itself down quite early on, without much chance of recovering. Does it know what it is supposed to be? An idea with potential and some laughs, but this movie doesn't know which way to jump.
AttentionEveryone I got this movie because of Kate Beckinsale, after I saw it, I was very disappointed of the script. I was actually uplifted after watching this movie because considering the plot, even I can write a script and have someone buy it and call it a movie. Who wrote the script? a high school student? it seems like they just rush the film and not even consider the intelligence of the audience. I like Kate Beckinsale but this movie was a bad choice for her, she shouldn't have signed up for this. Although, she was cute with very short hair, nice; but that can't compensate the disaster that this film created.If people call this one of the greatest British Comedy of all time, then British Comedy sucks big elephant balls.
kghastie Poor acting. Poor directing. "Humor" that is weakly attempted and trite, not the English wit that I am used to - not once did I laugh, although half the lines in the movie are intended to make one do so. The plot is ridiculous, which I assume is intended to make for a zany romp, but it's not creative or inspired enough to justify its lack of plausibility. The "charismatic" actors are without charm and give uninspired performances to roles with good deal of potential. The music in some scenes is almost as dull and inappropriately chosen as the female lead, who is about as dull and inappropriate as you can get.All in all, the whole thing seems thrown together by a pair of adolescent males who were told by their $60-for-three-weeks scriptwriting class instructor that they were "talented" and so decided to go off and write and direct their own movie. This flick tries and fails at every turn to be cute. It is so bad it made me go through the IMDB.com registration process, in the hopes that I can save just one of you from having to watch it.Remember, just because your girlfriend tells you she thinks your script is cute, and that "you're so creative, you should become a filmmaker," it doesn't mean its true!