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Shooting Fish
Movie

Shooting Fish

1997 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

Two con artists hire an unwitting medical-school student as a secretary for their latest scam.

Overall Series Review

Shooting Fish is a 1997 British crime comedy that centers on two male con artists and the intelligent medical student they unwittingly hire. The film focuses on a lighthearted caper to scam the wealthy elite and a corrupt aristocrat to fund the protagonists' dream of owning a traditional country home. The conflict is based on class and criminality, pitting the cunning protagonists against greedy upper-class targets. The narrative is driven by friendship, romance, and the individual motivations of the three main characters, including the heroine's desire to care for her disabled brother. The film avoids the pitfalls of modern progressive ideology, presenting a classic comedic structure with a focus on character chemistry and plot twists rather than social lecturing.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The narrative is centered on a classic class conflict, where con artists from a lower social standing target the 'wealthy elite' and a 'corrupt aristocrat' in a lighthearted crime caper. Character worth is judged by their competence and moral choices (as 'loveable rogues'), not by race or immutable characteristics. There is no insertion of diversity for its own sake, nor any vilification of whiteness as an immutable trait, only a satirical critique of the greedy, corrupt English upper class.

Oikophobia2/10

The central goal of the male protagonists is to acquire a stately English country home, which is an aspiration toward a traditional symbol of home and national heritage. The film satirizes the corruption of the elite, like the 'corrupt aristocrat,' but this is a critique of individuals' vices, not a fundamental denigration of Western civilization, home culture, or ancestors.

Feminism3/10

The female lead is a capable, intelligent character who is a medical student and quickly figures out the con, indicating agency and professional competence. Her secret motivation for needing the money is tied to a familial duty: caring for her Down's Syndrome brother. This strong motivation is rooted in a protective, family-oriented role, not an anti-natalist or career-is-only-fulfillment message. The central dynamic is a complementary romantic triangle with two 'loveable rogues,' avoiding the trope of the male leads being emasculated or presented as universally toxic.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film’s central emotional dynamic is a traditional, normative heterosexual romantic comedy plot. There is no presence of gender ideology, alternative sexualities are not centered, and the nuclear family structure is neither deconstructed nor is its role a subject of political lecturing.

Anti-Theism1/10

The core plot is a non-spiritual crime caper focused entirely on financial scams and a search for a better home. The film does not feature religious characters in prominent roles and demonstrates no hostility, deconstruction, or antagonism toward traditional religion or Christianity. Morality, while subjective for the con artists, is not explicitly framed in a political power dynamic but within a criminal comedy genre context.