The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

Director:

Jon Amiel

Writers (WGA):

Robert Farrar (novel)
Robert Farrar (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

He's on a mission so secret, even he doesn't know about it.

Plot:

Murray is mistaken for a spy and must stop a plot to assasinate international leaders at a banquet.

Plot Keywords:

American In The Uk | American Abroad | Dominatrix | Mistaken Identity | Escape

Cast

Bill Murray	...	Wallace 'Wally' Ritchie
Peter Gallagher	...	James 'Jimmy' Ritchie
Joanne Whalley	...	Lorelei 'Lori'
Alfred Molina	...	Boris 'The Butcher' Blavasky
Richard Wilson	...	Sir Roger Daggenhurst
Geraldine James	...	Dr. Ludmilla Kropotkin
John Standing	...	Gilbert Embleton
Anna Chancellor	...	Barbara Ritchie
Nicholas Woodeson	...	Sergei
Simon Chandler	...	Hawkins
Cliff Parisi	...	Uri
John Thomson	...	Dimitri
Janet Henfrey	...	Ms. Goldstein
Terry O'Neill	...	Spencer
Isabel Hernández	...	Consuela (as Isabel Hernandez)

Also Known As:

Agent Null Null Nix (Germany)
Agent Null Null Nix - Bill Murray in hirnloser Mission (Germany) (TV title)
Watch That Man (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, innuendo, comic violence and sensuality.

Runtime:

94 min | Spain:90 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Spain:T | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Elstree Film Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Polar Productions

Trivia:

After the interrogation scene in the hotel, Boris walks out of the room to call Dr. Ludmilla Kropotkin, and says: "Uri, get the rubber sheets... and watch that man." (pointing to Bill Murray's character). "Watch That Man" is the title of the novel on which the movie is based.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The German map shown at the presentation is completely wrong. Frankfurt is found roughly in the Munich area and so forth.

Quotes:

Lorelei 'Lori': Are you going to bring me that martini, or do I have to suck it out of the glass from here?

Movie Connections:

References Goldfinger (1964)

Soundtrack:

MARTA

Funny if slight

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.