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Bookmark this pageShooting Fish (1997)
Director: Stefan Schwartz
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The slang title refers to the ease with which mugs are found for scams. Dylan (Futterman) is a brash American tethered by friendship and history to Jez (Townsend), a gifted but unsophisticated inventor. The film begins with an attempt at the big time - a con involving voice-recognition computers and City investors - before introducing us to Jez and Dylan's home, an Aladdin's cave inside a large gasometer in the London suburbs. Cash-strapped trainee doctor Georgie (Beckinsale) is lured to work for the boys. Though she soon susses their game, she stays on board for a complicated mixture of motives involving her Down's Syndrome brother and her growing affection for the lads. The straggly plot - they're saving to buy a country house - has an Ealing-esque energy, but the portrayal of Englishness seems ersatz and overly accommodating to the international audience. A succession of cameos provides light relief, and the film's saved by the amiable performances of Futterman, Beckinsale and, especially, Townsend.Author: WH
Cast & crew
Director: Stefan Schwartz
Producer: Richard Holmes, Glynis Murray
Cast: Dan Futterman, Stuart Townsend, Kate Beckinsale, Nickolas Grace, Claire Cox, Peter Capaldi, Annette Crosbie, Jane Lapotaire, Phyllis Logan full cast
Duration: 112 mins
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