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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 296670" data-attributes="member: 23">The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

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Despite the tweaked-to-get-attention title (the source material was called Watch That Man), there&#039;s nothing at all Hitchcockian about this. Instead it feels very much like an ersatz version of the Clouseau films or even Mr Bean (it&#039;s ironic that the same year&#039;s Bean movie would lose much of its appeal by transplanting the main character to America, while this film sees Bill Murray plopped into a Hollywood vision of London -&nbsp; filled with RP accents, red phone boxes, cobbled streets and Minis - with about as much success).

The premise is a promising one, with Murray&#039;s character unwittingly dragged into espionage and despatching threats through his own clumsiness, spending the entire time under the misconception that he&#039;s involved in a live theatre performance paid for by his brother. This angle got a few decent chortles from me, such as the scene where he blasts a phone to smithereens with his gun, unaware that he&#039;s packing the real thing.

But the Devil&#039;s in the detail and, while the story is decent, the execution feels rather clunky and the script unpolished. Overall it&#039;s not as funny as it promises. I also came out of this feeling weary of Bill Murray&#039;s brand of buffoonery and questioning if I even like him as an actor. At the back of my mind the whole time was that I&#039;d rather be watching Peter Sellers.

On the plus side, Alfred Molina does his usual brilliant thing with accents. And Richard Wilson&#039;s always a delight, even with sub-par material.

[MEDIA=youtube]-YAhpfcdx0U[/MEDIA]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 296670, member: 23"] [CENTER][B][SIZE=6]The Man Who Knew Too Little[/SIZE][/B] (1997) [IMG width="368px"]https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdailygrindhouse.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F09%2Fthe-man-who-knew-too-little-movie-poster-1997-1020230658.jpg&f=1&nofb=1[/IMG] Despite the tweaked-to-get-attention title (the source material was called[I] Watch That Man),[/I] there's nothing at all Hitchcockian about this. Instead it feels very much like an ersatz version of the Clouseau films or even [I]Mr Bean[/I] (it's ironic that the same year's Bean movie would lose much of its appeal by transplanting the main character to America, while this film sees Bill Murray plopped into a Hollywood vision of London - filled with RP accents, red phone boxes, cobbled streets and Minis - with about as much success). The premise is a promising one, with Murray's character unwittingly dragged into espionage and despatching threats through his own clumsiness, spending the entire time under the misconception that he's involved in a live theatre performance paid for by his brother. This angle got a few decent chortles from me, such as the scene where he blasts a phone to smithereens with his gun, unaware that he's packing the real thing. But the Devil's in the detail and, while the story is decent, the execution feels rather clunky and the script unpolished. Overall it's not as funny as it promises. I also came out of this feeling weary of Bill Murray's brand of buffoonery and questioning if I even like him as an actor. At the back of my mind the whole time was that I'd rather be watching Peter Sellers. On the plus side, Alfred Molina does his usual brilliant thing with accents. And Richard Wilson's always a delight, even with sub-par material. [MEDIA=youtube]-YAhpfcdx0U[/MEDIA][/CENTER] [/QUOTE]

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