L'homme qui en savait trop... peu

With my son out-of-school, it's a bit trickier getting time to see the films I really enjoy. TRANSLATION: it's that time of year for a lot of rentals of films he likes and I can handle. After a tough day of lounging by the pool, another viewing of "The Seventh Seal" won't fly.

But Bill Murray in "The Man Who Knew Too Little" gives us that perfect summertime, late night film. Murray stars as a bumbling, clueless American who pops into London unexpected and uninvited so his Master of the Universe brother can celebrate his birthday. Trouble is the brother and his wife are entertaining visitors from Germany for a business presentation and Murray can't fit in. His brother has to make him disappear for the evening.

Which leads to the complex plot. Given a ticket for a live, interactive, TV show without walls (or a specific locale), Murray stumbles into a plot by a top British spymaster and his Soviet counterpart to pull off a midnight assassination of two ambassadors, thus wrecking a treaty ending the Cold War (and their lucrative, paranoia-tinged careers). Believing he's in a very big show, and with - of course - suitable and gorgeous female assistance he hits a lot of London (sometimes literally).

A little dated, I'm not so sure we wouldn't welcome some of the uncertainties and stresses of the Cold War for the unfolding enigma of international relations today. Hey, I shouldn't get serious and neither does Murray as he blunders about dispatching assassins and bystanders with ease.

This is a very physical comedy, Murray's forte. There isn't a serious idea in the script and the outcome is as predictable as May drizzle in London. But my kid couldn't stop laughing and that's good enough for me.

Jon Amiel's "The Man Who Knew Too Little" is one of the funniest movies that keeps the viewer in a laughing state all the time. Mr. Amiel shows an affinity to comedy as he takes us along for a fun ride into this amusing movie. The film is based on the funny Robert Farrar book, who also adapted the material for the screen.

This film is a sort of comedy of errors in which an innocent man is drawn into an international conspiracy that he has no clue is going on around him because his brother, in order to get him away from his dinner party, decides to treat him to a performance of a play in which the viewer is part of the show.

Little does Wally Ritchie realize what he has gotten into. That's the basic premise for the film, which works well because Wally doesn't suspect what he's involved in. So he goes along for the fun of it, thinking nothing about the bad guys that are trying to get rid of him, for real.

Bill Murray proves he is one of the best comedy actors working today. The sequence involving Mr. Murray dancing with a Russian folk group at the hotel where something terrible is set to occur is just pure perfection. Mr. Murray is a likable actor and never makes himself obnoxious in any situation. He is a delight to watch.

The rest of the cast is good. Peter Gallagher is Wally's brother. Joanne Whalley makes a perfect femme fatale. Alfredo Molina has some excellent moments as Boris, the butcher, the man who wants to eliminate Wally out of the picture.

"The Man Who Knew Too Little" is a fun film to watch thanks to Jon Amiel.

The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

There are those who think Bill Murray can do no wrong, that he has an impeccable comic flair and intelligence that drive even mediocre fare. And I'm one of them.

And this is relatively humdrum stuff on one level--though the basic idea of spoofing a spy superstar is as old and reliable as James Bond himself. (I mean, Bond spoofs were around when Sean Connery was still 007.) And the writing is really very witty here, giving two prongs forward in this mostly funny, always fast affair.

That is--I laughed a lot! That's the goal. The cold war themes of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. going head to head were old even in 1997 but of course not old for James Bond, and this does harken back somehow to the original. Murray plays a classic type--the hero who succeeds by accident. Often, it's the absurdity and illogic of this odd hero that makes him successful, surprising the professionals and seeming brazen and original. And so he is.

The plot is simple--some bad guys have a bomb that's going to go off in five hours. We know that at the start, and so the rest is loaded with anticipation and dread as the deadline nears. We also know (in this sort of movie) that no harm will come to Murray's cheerful, doltish American type. So the race against the clock is a series of gags and spoofs and lucky twists, all good for laughs. Murray is the key to it all, playing the naive participant with that uncanny timing and innocent face too well, over and over. If it were only about Murry this would be a 10 star masterpiece. The rest of the cast, and the eventual inevitability of the plot, hold it back, though. So it is what it is, still a great romp.

You want more than that? You won't get it. But why would you? Enjoy.

Bill Murray's deadpan humor makes this a movie that is fun to watch even 20+ years later. What makes it even funnier is the length that modern shows have gone to in making "reality shows". The stereotypical Russian, British, Chinese, German and American roles make for great laughs that have been lost in today's politically correct humorless world.

I love comedies, especially spoofs, and action and spy movies. This has all of that. This was so much funnier than Steve Martin trying to reinvent Inspector Clouseau in 2006

First of all....I loved it. Simply put, this film was great. Talk about a story that could have been based upon true life incidents is not what this film is about. This is comedy at its best. Bill Murray's character is a man who manages a Blockbuster-video store someplace in Iowa. Murray decides to take a vacation and visit his brother in London. His brother (Peter Gallagher) is entertaining some important clients that same evening and sends his brother (Murray) out to participate in this audience-interaction play involving spies called the `Theater of Life'. Well, as the play begins, Murray accidentally stumbles into a real-life spy drama and takes everything that happens next as if he is just acting in a play. The result is non-stop humor which leaves the audience busting up outloud. You don't have to love Bill Murray to love this film...he brings to the screen the best parts of his roles in "Scrooged", "Stripes", "Ground Hog Day" and "What About Bob"...you just have to be ready to experience Bill Murray at his best. Bottom line, what might even be funnier than the film, is being part of an uninhibited audience, because once some people begin laughing, they will be at it for the next two hours.