Wonderful Movie

Thanks for the memories!

Better Late Then Never

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is a very enjoyable and funny movie that is what I call an "easy watcher" that you don't have to invest too much into, you just have to kick back and get ready to laugh. It's a simple story but Bill Murray is brilliant as pretty much always he is, and this movie is a gem of a film that I think is one of the most underrated comedies of its era.Bill Murray in "The Man Who Knew Too Little" gives us that perfect no-brainer movie everyone in the family should love. Murray stars as a bumbling, clueless American who visits his brother in London on his birthday - unfortunately he's such a buffoon who embarrasses his brother in front of his associates that he is gotten rid of by the brother who "treats" him to a live gaming/theatre event where he will be playing a spy. He's teamed up with an obviously stereo-typically gorgeous female co-spy he hits the town and gets to work, playing it up as a super-spy. Soon he's killing enemy agents left and right.This is a very physical comedy and Murray shines, and it's really just a very silly and completely predictable script but it never fails to deliver laughs which is what this kind of movie is all about. Along with Quick Change this is a Bill Murray comedy masterpiece that deserves much more credit.

When I first heard of this movie I was intrigued by the title - it, in my own weird way, thought it was clever. It looked cute, and a few friends said that it was funny, so I could not resist watching it. One complaint though is that the video cover is not as good as the movie poster, where they had Bill Murry pointing an oversized gun out at you.The movie is about a naive man, Wallace Ritchie, who comes to London to surprise his brother, but must be occupied for the night as his brother has an important dinner. So his brother enrolls him in something called the theatre of life, where the audience participates in the action. Unfortunately Wallace picks up the wrong phone call and gets caught up in a cloak and dagger mission, which he believes is all acting.The comedy from this movie comes from two areas: in one way it is slap-stick, but the real thrust of the comedy is the fact the people do not know something, yet assume that they do. They do not know who Wallace is and think that he is a dangerous spy, yet he is just an ordinary guy. What adds to it is that Wallace was mugged at the beginning so he has no identification, yet they think even more that he is a spy. What is even funnier is that Wallace thinks he is simply in an interactive theatre, and treats it as such. While all of this seriousness goes on around him, he seems to be having the time of his life. Even more, Ritchie's clumsiness gets him out of a lot of predicaments and makes the bad guys think even more that he is a dangerous spy.I really enjoyed this movie. Most comedies I do not find funny, but once in a while one comes out that is quite funny (though some are simply pure hilarity, such as Analyse This!). This is a humorous (though not outrageously funny) comedy.

The Man Who Knew Too Little is a movie based on a book by Robert Farrar, and it's one of those timeless comedies with phenomenal script and even better acting. I must say that Bill Murray was hilarious in this one, and this is one of his best comedic roles. The script is very original and unique, giving the director and actors enough material to create a comedy that has several layers and can be viewed as classical slapstick but also an intelligent comedy. Combining a serious spy plot with a hapless and accident-prone "secret agent" is something that now is quite popular, but back in 1997 was a genre less explored. Toying with the cold war, and stereotypes common for James Bond movies Farrar creates even more comedy, and a perfect example is Boris The Butcher, played masterfully by Alfred Mollina.Wallace Ritchie is a manager at a Blockbuster video store in America, and he has come to England to visit his businessman brother James. But this is a wrong time for a visit since James is expecting an important business partner at his house so he offers Ritchie a ticket to "Theater Of Life" a new kind of show where a viewer participates along with the actors in a show. All too happy, Ritchie accepts the offer, not knowing that soon he will be involved in a spy war of immense proportions. Thinking that this is still a show and that everything is supposed to happen like that Ritchie plays along, as he tries to save the world in his world and in real world...Check out my review site Rabbit-Reviews for movies that are worth watching, Rabbit out...

This movie is great! It's funny, warm, and original. In a way, some might even find a philosophical context in it - we are sometimes truly effective when we look at things simply as a "theater of life", and when having fun and being a good actor is more important than the outcome of our actions. Bill Murray is fantastic in this movie. My favorite part is a Russian dancing performance with him doing a solo, but there's much more. If feels like many scenes were not rigidly scripted but full of improvisation. It's easy to watch this movie multiple times simply enjoying the acting. I was pleasantly surprised to discover this - it is not a well-known movie.