The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

It's hard to believe that this movie is so little known, because it is Bill Murray's best to date. It is so cleverly done and hilarious, even without the little sly jokes you may not get until the 2nd or 3rd time through. Anyone who loves non-vulgar comedy should watch this movie.

Fmovies: Wally Ritchie flies from America to visit his brother in London for his birthday. However James has a business meeting and needs Wally out of the way for the evening. He books Wally onto a new murder-evening style experience where you get to play the character of an secret agent or the like. However Wally answers the wrong phone call and is mistaken for hitman Spenser. Following the instructions of the call, Wally becomes involved in a plot to start the cold war again by killing a mix of Ambassadors. Blissfully unaware Wally sets out to foil the plot.

This is one of those films that I'd kept meaning to see for ages but never got round to it. So when I finally did I maybe had too high expectations for it. So for the first 20 minutes I was a little impatient and was bothered that I wasn't really enjoying it or laughing very much. However once I got past this I relaxed and started to enjoy it.

The plot is mush and even if you take it seriously, all the pieces don't fit together and the plot doesn't make a lot of sense. However ignore all this plot nonsense – this is all about Wally stumbling from one misunderstanding to another lucky occurrence. We're not in the realms of classic comedy here and it certainly isn't hilarious. Rather it's funny and enjoyable – in that, even when I wasn't smiling I still had a fixed grin on my face.

Murray is the film's saviour. He stumbles around so very well and makes even the most basic misunderstanding funny. Gallagher is a passable straightman and Walley-Kilmer is decent but really suffers from having to share a screen with Murray. A fleet of British faces make up the rest of the cast – from Molina, Wilson, Woodeson to the sublime John Thomson and faces like Dexter Fletcher and `that guy offa Family Affairs'. To be honest it's all a bit distracting having so many `oh, that's ……' and you do have to try and get past it.

Overall this isn't the funniest thing you'll ever see, but it is enjoyable and will make you smile for 90 minutes, even if the belly laughs are less often than you'd like. Murray runs the show and brings laughs out of the least inspired routines. Well worth a watch if you're in a silly, undemanding mood.

He's a bumbling fool who's ungodly lucky. He's a brilliant secret agent, and he thinks he's part of a reality show. He saves the world, and he hasn't got a clue.

It's a superb comedy concept, and one which Bill Murray was born for. What a crime that this did not turn into a series of multiple movies. And what a shame that many people probably don't even know this one exists. It's a true gem.

Also featuring other great actors like the delicious Joanne Whalley (a favorite of mine since The Singing Detective), and the great, great Alfred Molina in one of his best roles ever, as the good-natured but hard-boiled Russian agent Boris the Butcher. Alfred Molina is fantastic. He can play anything; good or evil, handsome or ugly, dignified or foolish. The man is a genius.

But as for Bill Murray; this movie is one of his best ones, and will certainly go down in history as a major comedy classic. When I noticed that the movie is based on a book, I tried to find it, but unfortunately it seems the book is unpublished. Which also means that there weren't any sequels... :-(

Anyway, we have this movie, and it is virtually perfect. Great fun.

The Man Who Knew Too Little fmovies. HE GOOD - This was better than I expected, especially after reading some negative reviews on it. Bill Murray is perfect for his role. There are several scenes I just laughed out loud. He had some funny lines. The film moves well and the comedy is generally good. Joanne Whalley-Kilmer is usually nice to watch

THE BAD - The only weak part, unfortunately, was the last 20 minutes. Also, this is basically a one-joke movie and that joke can begin to tire after about 40 minutes. I didn't care for Peter Gallagher's role.

OVERALL - Like "Groundhog Day," a good vehicle for Murray's humor makes it an entertaining film, but I'd rent it before buying it.

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.

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.