Shooting Fish (1997)

Two con artists' plan to steal enough for a house are twisted when a pretty girl enters the picture.

Director:

Stefan Schwartz

Writers:

Stefan Schwartz, Richard Holmes

Stars:

Dan Futterman, Stuart Townsend, Kate Beckinsale

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rowena Cooper	...	Jez's Teacher
Scott Charles	...	Samuel
Antonia Corrigan	...	Antonia
Myles Anderson	...	Jez - Age 8
Jane Lapotaire	...	Dylan's Headmistress
Harry Ditson	...	IRS Man
Jacob Macoby	...	Dylan - Age 8
Dan Futterman	...	Dylan
Tom Chadbon	...	Mr. Greenaway
Kate Beckinsale	...	Georgie
Stuart Townsend	...	Jez
Phyllis Logan	...	Mrs. Ross
Vicki Bensted	...	Bank Clerk
Peter McNamara	...	Geoff
Ralph Ineson	...	Mr. Ray

Storyline

Dylan and Jez are con artists, Dylan is a charming American who's run from some characters in the states and Jez is an English techno nerd. During one of their scams selling a voice recognition computer they hire Georgie as a secretary for the job. The romantic triangle between Dylan, Jez and Georgie appears, but she is also not a secretary, but a student, and her marriage with rich Roger is upcoming.

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Plot Keywords:

secretary | money | con artist | scam | orphan | 

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Taglines:

As con artists they were hard to beat. But they were easy targets for LOVE.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, suggestive humor and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Website

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atirando em Peixes

Filming Locations:

Polesden Lacey, Great Bookham, Dorking, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$56,240, 3 May 1998, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$302,204, 31 May 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gruber Bros, Tomboy Films, Winchester Multimedia PLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 99 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To research their roles as conmen, both Stuart Townsend and Dan Futterman spent time flogging perfume from a suitcase in London's busiest shopping area, Oxford Street.

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Goofs

When Georgie stands up at the roof-top pond, she casts a shadow on the background sunrise.

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Quotes

[Georgie is fast asleep next to Jez in the car]
Dylan: You know, I can see it now - she's a stunningly attractive woman.
Jez: It means she's relaxed in our company.
Dylan: If she relaxes any more it could get very messy.
Jez: Don't. She might hear you.
Dylan: Jez, look at her. She's wasted. God only knows what she was up to last night.
Jez: You're twisted. She's got charm and warmth and...
Dylan: ...and neat little sit-up breasts.

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Crazy Credits

Disclaimer in closing credits: "No animals, especially fish, were hurt during the making of this movie".

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Alternate Versions

The UK Region-2 DVD is also missing the scene where the heroes' home is trashed by their former scam-victims while spouting praises of "Good Old England".

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Connections

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

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Soundtracks

Falling In Love
Written by Henrey Anadon & Jo Burrise

User Reviews

Wonderful

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.