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the audience applauded

Thanks for the memories!

Expected more

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Oddly enough, then I hadn't even heard about "The Man Who Knew Too Little" before now, when I happened to stumble upon the movie by luck. But then again, I haven't actively been seeking out Bill Murray's movies, despite him being a great comedian and actor."The Man Who Knew Too Little" actually had a good story with lots of hilarious scenes and situations. The movie is filled with loveable characters and Bill Murray was just amazing in this movie.The movie does have a good cast and good acting performances, from the likes of Bill Murray, Peter Gallagher and Alfred Molina, to mention but those that first comes to mind.it is definitely worth taking the time to watch this movie, if you haven't already seen it.

The title made it obvious that this film would a parody of classic Alfred Hitchcock style espionage thrillers, despite it being an average rating by critics, I was drawn to it by this and a good list of actors in it, directed by Jon Amiel (Copycat, Entrapment, The Core). Basically naive American tourist Wallace Ritchie (Bill Murray) from Des Moines, Iowa, who works at Blockbuster Video, has travelled to London, England on his birthday to spend time with his brother James (While You Were Sleeping's Peter Gallagher). James is happy to spend time with Wallace, but has business guests coming to dinner and needs something to distract his brother so he doesn't sour the evening, so he sets Wallace up with an interactive improv theatre business, the "Theatre of Life", which promises to treat the participant as a character in a crime drama. But trouble begins when Wallace unknowingly answers the phone to a real hit-man and in is mixed in a case of mistaken identity, the criminals believe him to be a CIA spy, and he gets tangled in a plot to kill Russian dignitaries who will be signing an important peace agreement. Wallace is completely gullible and goes along with this, even when people are being killed, criminals are chasing him and newfound femme fetale Lori (Joanne Whalley) and a bomb is ticking down, he thinks it is all an act, part of his experience with "Theatre of Life". Also starring Alfred Molina as Boris 'The Butcher' Blavasky, Richard Wilson as Sir Roger Daggenhurst, Little Britain's Geraldine James as Dr. Ludmilla Kropotkin, John Standing as Gilbert Embleton, Four Weddings and a Funeral's Anna Chancellor as Barbara Ritchie, The Fast Show's John Thomson as Dimitri, EastEnders' Cliff Parisi Cliff Parisi as Uri, Dexter Fletcher as Otto, J.E. Freeman as CIA Man, Maxwell Caulfield as British Agent, The Fast Show's Paul Shearer as TV Reporter, Going Live's Sarah Greene as TV Presenter and Top of the Pops' Mike Smith as TV Presenter. Murray is very convincing as the idiotic slow-witted ordinary man caught in the middle of a dangerous predicament, so much so that it almost becomes annoying, the supporting stars all do well being more amusingly serious, the bumbling dimwit formula does create laughs, but it does a little kick eventually, and the assassination attempt stuff wears a little thin as well, becoming slightly predictable, overall though it is a funny enough spy comedy. Worth watching!

This is a quirky film that can't help being a "small" film, with star Bill Murray halfway between the more dignified actorly stage of his later career and the goofy mannerisms of his early prime. The plot is fun, but highly contrived -- Murray plays an American tourist in London whose brother (Peter Gallagher) tries to get him out of his hair by booking him into a "live theater" experience. Murray's character, Wally, is mistaken for a real hit man and finds himself caught up in an international conspiracy to bring the cold war back.There are a lot of good solid laughs coming from the situational comedy of Murray's predicament -- he never realizes at any point that it's not all a game, so he constantly puts himself in danger. Along the way he picks up the mistress of a government official (Joanne Whalley) and falls for her. Whalley unfortunately can't carry the kind of emotional weight they've put on her. Gallagher and Alfred Molina grab most of the unexpected laughs. The climax is a bit predictable and under-whelming.I found myself enjoying this one more when I first saw it in the late 90s. Perhaps the premise of the cold war situation is even more stale now than it was in 1998. Basically though I think this is a fun, light movie that works well for one viewing but can't really be cherished the way Murray's best comedies can. The direction by Amiel is uninspired and uninvolving (the only other film I've seen by Amiel is the disappointing heist film "Entrapment"). You have to wonder if the whole thing was just a frozen funds tax write-off for the company that produced it. There are enough laughs in the first part, especially a funny car chase and miscommunication between the two brothers. However the film doesn't fully pay off the viewer's investment.

After fifteen minutes, I had the idea, that the title referred to the guy who wrote the script. After half an hour, I was completely sure. This movie (?) is lame, lousy and a complete waste of time. There's nothing that could be describes as "direction", the timing is horrible, the acting as wooden as a log and the jokes... *argh* Everything is totally predictable and annoying. Even if you're a fan of Bill Murray - like me - you won't find it amusing at all.But to be honest, there's one excellent thing about this flick: Christopher Young's score is funny, cool and simply excellent! My recommendation is, forget the movie and get yourself the soundtrack CD. It's really everything the movie pretends to be.