2 THIEVES, A SPUNKY SOPHISTICATE AND A FUNERAL IN `SHOOTING FISH'.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Writer

English movies are getting frothier all the time. Now, in the wake of ``The Full Monty's'' fun boys and ``Sliding Doors,'' with its parallel tracks to romantic bliss, we have ``Shooting Fish,'' an ever-so-cheery tale of two con men and the posh girl they both love.

Actually, ``Fish's'' airier-than-cotton-candy attitude harks back further than the obvious inspiration for all this Britfluff, ``Four Weddings and a Funeral.'' It takes its cues from the swinging London caper comedies of the 1960s, which means it's even sillier than the light entertainments we're currently accustomed to.

But in an ever-so-charming, weightlessly nonthreatening way.

Our crooked heroes are English Jez (Stuart Townsend), a mechanical genius, and American Dylan (``The Birdcage's'' Dan Futterman), who has the fast-talking people skills. Both orphans, they've dreamed of living in a country mansion since childhood, and since hooking up in London have been swindling their way toward the shared goal.

While operating a voice-recognition computer sales scam, they hire a perky typist, Georgie (Kate Beckinsale, the winningly spunky sophisticate from the hilarious ``Cold Comfort Farm''), to quickly input responses that the computer itself is allegedly coming up with.

Intrigued by what she easily susses out as a scam, Georgie - who also happens to be a medical student with (what else?) a family estate she's at risk of losing - gets to know her employers. Thinking they're Robin Hoodish crook/philanthropists, she helps them escape from various stings-gone-wrong and is enchanted by their secret hideaway inside an abandoned water tank. It's tricked up with all kinds of amusing gizmos Jez has invented, which further endears him to Georgie.

However, slick Dylan has his eye on Georgie, too, and he's better with women than his socially awkward partner. Before that leads to too much animosity between the buddies, their house of cards collapses, and they need Georgie to help them pull off their only hope of getting away with a profit. But what if she finds out the real, awful truth?

The schemes dreamed up by the writing team that calls itself the Gruber Brothers - director Stefan Schwartz and producer Richard Holmes - aren't exactly brain-busters. Even the more intricate ones, like when they frame a car thief for an attic insulation rip-off, fail to intrigue because they're about, well, mundane things like insulation.

Don't expect to bust a gut laughing, either; the height of hilarity here involves some quick change and inflatable nonsense at a funeral parlor.

It's all too cute by half. Except for Beckinsale, who has a wondrous knack for combining pixie impudence with tough-minded intelligence and making it all seem natural. While there's a lot about this movie that strains too hard to achieve a sense of delightful lightness, Beckinsale makes it look as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Shooting Fish'' (PG; language).

The stars: Dan Futterman, Stuart Townsend and Kate Beckinsale.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Stefan Schwartz. Written by Schwartz and Richard Holmes. Produced by Holmes and Glynis Murray. Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 33 minutes.

Playing: United Artists, Westwood; Laemmle Sunset 5, West Hollywood; Laemmle Monica, Santa Monica

Our rating: Two and One Half Stars.

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Photo

Photo: In ``Shooting Fish,'' Kate Beckinsale plays a medical student who befriends Stuart Townsend's crooked mechanical genius.