"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Shooting Fish (1997, PG)


I hadn’t heard more than middling things about Shooting Fish, so I assumed it’d be one of those films that I politely see once for a favorite actor, enjoying their scenes and putting in my time for the rest of it (see Weisz, Rachel: Envy.)  However, this turned out to be a fun little film with some engaging characters and amusing twists.
 
Dylan and Jez are two young men who take a delight in their gainful self-employment as con artists.  With Dylan’s savoir faire and Jez’s technological know-how, they busk their way from grift to grift.  Some of their cons are really fun and inventive, and I like their deep/dysfunctional friendship.  Naturally, this movie shakes up their status quo, and the monkey wrench thrown into the works is Georgie, a lovely young woman they both have their eye on (I know – never would’ve guessed, right?)  So yes, parts of it are predictable or silly, but overall, it’s great to watch Dylan and Jez get into scrapes just to see how they’ll wriggle their way out of it.
 
PC plays Mr. Gilzean, one of many potential marks for the duo.  He seems to make his living evaluating new inventions.  Dylan and Jez come to him with an impressive, if entirely ersatz, breakthrough that the stuns the seen-it-all weariness right out of him.
 
It’s a small role – he’s not in more than a couple of scenes – and Mr. Gilzean doesn’t really have much characterization to speak of.  However, the sequence of Dylan and Jez trying to con him is very funny and enjoyable.
 
A number of familiar faces in this film.  Dylan is played by Dan Futterman, who I’ll always remember as the son in The Birdcage, and Kate Beckinsale plays George.  Additionally, Ralph Ineson (Finchy from the British Office) and Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey’s Mrs. Hughes) both appear in small roles.
 
Accent Watch
 
Scottish.
 
Recommend?
 
In General – I think so.  It’s creative and a little kooky, and plenty of fun.
 
PC-wise – Not necessarily.  Pretty small role.
 
Warnings
 
A little swearing and general criminal activity.

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