As many people have mentioned on this page SHOOTING FISH had a lot of potential as it centered around loud mouthed American Dylan and geeky Englishman Jez who are a couple of scam artists . We British have a sort of sneaking respect for these type of con artists ( As long as they con other people of course ) and there's a lot of room for explosive comedy potential as we see Dylan revealing a new type of computer word processor that has a volcabury of hundreds of thousands of words in its database so I sat back ready to enjoy this British comedy but halfway through I was bored senseless It's very obvious what went wrong . Director and co-writer Stefan Schwartz has decided that a laddish comedy will only appeal to 50% of a potential audience so has made a movie that will also appeal to fans of soppy romance by introducing a love triangle featuring Dylan , Jez and Georgie . Unfortunately SHOOTING FISH will ONLY appeal to fans of soppy romance which probably makes up 3% of the audience . This actually seems to be a problem with Schwartz as his future films like THE ABDUCTION CLUB and THE BEST MAN also feature soppy romance in abundance. Fair enough if you want to make a gooey rom com then go ahead but make sure the central premise allows it . Watching very patchy funny scenes like " LESLEY IS DEAD MAN " convinced me that this would have worked without the lovey dovey stuff which seems to have been shoehorned in and it's this that brings the film down Interesting trivia point about Stefan Schwartz : He once had a walk on part in Battlefield , my least favourite DOCTOR WHO story

Jez & Dylan are a very diferent pair. Maybe that's why Georgie finds in them a gold mine. Stefan Schuartz's Shooting Fish ( 2001 ) is a funny comedy about two con artists who, without a family, start to "save" for the house of their dreams. Of course, they define them selves as the 90's Robin Hood, telling Georgie ( played by an unknowned Kate Beckinsale ) they're saving for an orphan's housing proyect. Jez ( Stuart Townsend, a rising british star ) wants to tell the truth, but Dylan ( the american Dan Futterman ) thinks they should go for what they've always wanted.The plot is probably common, but that doesn't stop Shooting Fish from being funny, romantic, and, in some way, human. Of course it has it's failures, but, if you like it, it's good.Jez is a computer geek, a wizard with a degree... and social incompetence. Dylan is dislexic, but he can convince anyone with his endless charm. They grew up in public homes, and now they want a house of their own. Georgie is an inocent medicine student, and she needs the money to save her retarded brother's school.As I said before, the plot is common, but it's original at the same time. It's cleary a Masterpiece, although for some is lack of sense or it should be more adult. But that doesn't stop Shooting Fish to become one of the funniest UK comedies, among with East is East and Trainspoting.Shooting Fish is a british expression for the action of stealing, to defraud. And that is what they do, only the orphans mentioned before are them.When the law catches them, they'll have to tell the truth to Georgie, But: Will she forgive them?This tells us all: even the easiest plan can fail, if you fall in loveSHOOTING FISH Dan Futterman, Stuart Townsend, Kate Beckinsale Directed By Stefan Schuartz Written By stefan Schuartz & Richard HolmesVERY GOOD 8

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!

I have seen this film so many times and never get sick of it. The casting is brilliant with Dan Futterman and Stuart Townsend in fantastic performances.The plot is quite original following Dylan and Jez - two English con artists who are tricking people out of their money by selling voice recognition computers and other false devices. They need two million dollars to buy the house they never had - having grown up as orphaned children. On one of their scams they employ a secretary and medical student named Georgie, who is convinced they are raising money for an orphans project. This adds romantic themes into the story to make it even more entertaining. A stand out is the interesting relationship that Dylan and Jez have with each other, Dylan being the fast talking American and Jez being the British techno genius. I recommend 'Shooting Fish' to all movie-goers. It has a great soundtrack, is funny, romantic, creative and a great achievement for British filmmaking.