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Shooting Fish
Metascore
47 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 14
  3. Negative: 2 out of 14
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  1. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    70
    Though the script never makes a convincing case for the lads as '90s Robin Hoods, it's restlessly inventive, with a pleasant, rather than rib-cracking, humor and likable touch of naivete.
  2. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    63
    At its best the movie is still innocent enough to slide past your guard, and inventive and lively enough to make the average Hollywood comedy seem to be on heavy tranquilizers.
  3. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Tom Meek
    60
    The leads are all likable, albeit two-dimensional, and the rompish surreal texture of the film, makes it stylishly hip and humorous, almost like an episode of "The Monkees."
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Joshua Klein
    60
    As a cute diversion, it's a pleasant, painless, wonderfully forgettable surprise.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    60
    Not as inspired or amusing as it might be, leans heavily on the considerable charm of its three young and attractive principals. Their charisma and the film's larky spirit, English locales and elaborate cons might be just enough to divert easily satisfied date-night audiences.
  6. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Bruce Diones
    60
    The film is paced like a breezy sixties romp and there are some good gags, but the plot's a bit creaky and lacks the clever zing of a good scam.
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    Wafer-thin, content-light, structure-wobbly, and whimsy-heavy.
  8. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    50
    The film is preposterous to the point of distraction, where the necessary level of suspension of disbelief exceeds the capacity of a normal, thinking person.
  9. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Paul Malcolm
    50
    Shooting Fish wants to hang with the hip crowd--witness the vibrant colors, the flashy camera work and the stream of catchy pop songs--but its heart just isn't wild enough.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    50
    This aggressively whimsical fairy tale about a pair of grown-up orphans who rob from the rich to give to the poor (themselves!) and end up living happily ever after darts forward so quickly that several major plot turns are dispensed with in 10 or 15 seconds of babble.
  11. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    40
    A predictable affair that nonetheless ingratiates itself into your good fortunes by sheer virtue of its amiable nuttiness. It's mindless fun while it lasts.
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    40
    Leaking platitudes and cutesy ambience, this comedy folds a smarmy, social-issue subplot into a Saturday-morning-kids'-show sensibility; it's full of geeky gadgetry, and must've been a lot more fun to make than it is to watch.
  13. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    30
    Cloying, immature and relentlessly cute, this grating British comedy about two London con men is every bit as shameless as its heroes.
  14. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    25
    Aspires to the breezy esprit of a Richard Lester comedy from the '60s, but it's a deadly, leaden affair.
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