''Shooting Fish'' is a 1997 British romantic

crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Stefan Schwartz Stefan Schwartz (born 1 May 1963) is an English and Canadian film and television director, writer and actor, most known for the feature film ''Shooting Fish'' and his work on the BBC's '' Spooks'' and ''Luther'', AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' ...

and co-written with Richard Holmes. Starring

Dan Futterman Daniel Paul Futterman (born June 8, 1967) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. Futterman wrote the screenplay for the film '' Capote'', for which he received an Academy Award nomination, an Independent Spirit, Boston Society of Fil ...

and

Stuart Townsend Stuart Townsend (born 15 December 1972) is an Irish actor. He portrayed Lestat de Lioncourt in the film adaptation of Anne Rice's ''Queen of the Damned'' (2002), and Dorian Gray in Alan Moore's ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (2003) ...

as two con men with

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress and model. After some minor television roles, her film debut was ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993) while a student at the University of Oxford. She appeared in British costume ...

as their unwilling assistant, the film was produced by Winchester Films and partly funded by National Lottery money administered through the UK Arts Council. ''Shooting Fish'' aimed to transfer well to international markets that were keen on British films following the success of '' Four Weddings and a Funeral''. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 17 October 1997 and in the United States on 1 May 1998.

Plot

Dylan (

) and Jez (

) are two orphans who meet in their twenties and vow to achieve their shared childhood dream of living in a stately home. In pursuit of this dream, they spend their days living in a disused

gas holder A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressu ...

, spending as little money as possible and conning the upper classes out of their riches. During one of their cons, they encounter Georgie (

) who is a medical student who can type. Georgie becomes aware that the two are con-artists. But they manage to convince her that they are modern day Robin Hoods, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. When a con goes wrong, the two find themselves jailed. They later learn that their entire fortune is to be rendered useless as the Royal Bank of England is recalling the notes. Jez and Dylan decide they need to somehow escape and retrieve their money or risk losing it. Jez contacts Georgie and appeals to her to help. Georgie, unbeknownst to the guys, needs money to save the

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual d ...

foundation's mansion that her brother currently attends. She organises for Jez and Dylan to get released on compassionate leave under the guise of attending the cremation of a relative. While the ceremony is ongoing, they sneak out and retrieve the money and return before the prison warders suspect a thing. With the money hidden in the coffin they accidentally send it to be cremated and are returned to prison completely despondent. It turns out to be a double con as Georgie retrieves the money and buys her ex's "champion" horse only to learn that the horse is a dud. When the guys get out she comes clean and they hatch another plan which will see the horse win a big race allowing them to charge stud fees. Everything works out and the horse romps to victory (thanks to inserting helium in the jockeys outfit). Georgie agrees to sell the now champion horse back to her ex. With the proceeds all three agree to save the foundation and as they drive to the foundation broke, Jez and Dylan realise they have finally found their stately home.

Cast

as Dylan ** Jacob Macoby as 8-year-old Dylan *

as Jez ** Myles Anderson as 8-year-old Jez *

as Georgie * Dominic Mafham as Roger * Tom Chadbon as Mr. Greenaway *

Phyllis Logan Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956) is a Scottish actress, known for playing Lady Jane Felsham in ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes (later Carson) in ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer f ...

as Mrs. Ross *

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in '' The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), for ...

as Mr. Gilzean * Geoffrey Whitehead as Horse owner * Ralph Ineson as Mr. Ray *

Nicola Duffett Nicola Duffett (born 22 January 1963) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Debbie Bates on ''EastEnders'' and Cat MacKenzie on ''Family Affairs''. Career Duffett had a supporting role in the Oscar-winning film ''Howards End'' ...

as Mrs. Ray *

Annette Crosbie Annette Crosbie (born 12 February 1934) is a Scottish actor.Annette Crosbie fil ...

as Mrs. Cummins * Nicholas Woodeson as Mr. Collyns *

Jane Lapotaire Jane Elizabeth Marie Lapotaire (née Burgess; 26 December 1944) is an English actress. Biography Lapotaire was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, the daughter of Louise Elise (Burgess). Her stepfather, Yves Lapotaire, worked in the oil industry and wa ...

as Dylan's headmistress *

Rowena Cooper Rosemary Rowena Cooper (born 1935) is a British actress. She began her career in 1956, joining the Radio Drama Company by winning the Carlton Hobbs Bursary. In 1959 she joined the Dundee Repertory Theatre Company and went on to have an exten ...

as Jez's teacher * John Clegg as Vicar

Production

The film was shot in the autumn of 1996 (August–October). Most filming took place at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...

and outside street locations in north London. Alexandra Palace features in one notable scene. The gas holder in which Dylan and Jez live no longer exists, having been situated in Mill Hill East up to the early 2000s. The crematorium scene was filmed in Garston, west Hertfordshire. The film would eventually make its nationwide screening in October 1997.

Reception

The film held its own commercially in the UK. Reviews at the time singled out Townsend for praise but felt the narrative contained one twist and turn too many. Others suggested the film was merely an 'Ealing Comedy' in modern form and lacked modern characterization. The 'soft comedic focus' however had been a deliberate plan by the production team who wanted to avoid the socio-political realism in comedies like

Brassed Off ''Brassed Off'' is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor. The film is about the troubles faced by a colliery brass band, following the closure ...

and

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is ...

. A ''Time Out'' review (1997) said, "A succession of cameos provides light relief, and the film's saved by the amiable performances of Futterman, Beckinsale and, especially, Townsend."

Accolades

Beckinsale was awarded Best Actress for her performance in ''Shooting Fish'' at the

Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

Soundtrack

, the director, was looking for an essential nineties feel to the film. The era of

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

was at its height and this was reflected in a stylish and striking array of tracks for a light comedy film: # "Me and You vs the World" Written & Performed by Space Courtesy of Hit & Run Music/Gut Music & Gut Records # "I'm a Little Teapot" Written by George Sanders & Clarence Kelly # "Beautiful Alone" Written & Performed by Strangelove # "

Neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural a ...

" Written & Performed by

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

# " Day Before Yesterday's Man" Written by James McColl Performed by

The Supernaturals The Supernaturals are a five piece guitar-based indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. Fronted by singer-songwriter James McColl, they signed to Parlophone in 1996, and had a string of singles which were taken from their three albums and ...

# "Golden Skin" Written & Performed by

Silver Sun Silver Sun are a British power pop band, who formed in 1995 in Camden, London. They released their self-titled debut album in 1997, and after two major label releases that saw moderate success, the band released two further albums independe ...

# "

I'm a Better Man (For Having Loved You) "I'm a Better Man" was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was a hit for Engelbert Humperdinck in 1969. It was a follow up to the previous release, "The Way It Used To Be". Background The record was released in the United States on Parro ...

" Words & Music by

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

and

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...

Specially Recorded by David McAlmont # "What the World Needs Now Is Love" Words & Music by Hal David & Burt Bacharach Performed by Jackie DeShannon # "Friends" Written & Performed by

The Wannadies The Wannadies is an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten (vocals, guitars), Christina Bergmark (born 1 March 1969) ( keyboards, vocals), Stefan Schönfeldt (born 5 ...

# "Body Medusa (The Leftfield Re-mix)" Written & Performed by Supereal Additional Production by

Leftfield Leftfield are a British electronic music duo formed in 1989 as the duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of the Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was very influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s, w ...

# "Bluetonic" Written by The Bluetones and Adrian Mitchell Performed by

The Bluetones The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth m ...

# "Twist" Performed by

Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

# "In Charge" Specially Written & Produced by Stephen Hillier and Chris Wilkie Performed by

Dubstar Dubstar are an English indie-dance duo,Note: An American indie hip hop artist has released some tracks and video via the Internet under the name "Dubstar", but is not connected to the band in any way. performing songs with hints of Britpop, dre ...

# " Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" Words & Music by

and

Performed by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles ch ...

# "In Pursuit of Happiness" Written by Neil Hannon Performed by

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...

# "To Be the One" Written & Performed by Passion Star # "Falling in Love" Written by Henrey Anadon & Jo Burrise # "Tribute to BB" Specially Written & Produced by Layo Paskin & Matthew B

Home media

The original 112-minute version of ''Shooting Fish'' was released on VHS in the UK in 1998, running to 107 minutes due to PAL speed-up. When released on DVD (and re-released on VHS) in 2001, however, it ran to 99 minutes,BBFC: ''Shooting Fish'', video, 16 April 2001
/ref> equivalent to 103 minutes theatrically. This is apparently the US cinema version, having removed some scenes and dialogue aimed more specifically at British audiences (such as some references to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

). As of September 2014 it has not been re-released uncut, or in the

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

format.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting Fish 1997 films 1990s crime comedy films 1997 romantic comedy films British crime comedy films British romantic comedy films Dyslexia in fiction Films directed by Stefan Schwartz Films shot at Shepperton Studios Fox Searchlight Pictures films Romantic crime films 1990s English-language films 1990s British films