The Man Who Knew Too Little
with Bill Murray, Peter Gallagher, Joanne Whalley, Alfred Molina
Directed by Jon Amiel
Written by Robert Farrar and Howard Franklin
by Scott Hefflon
Bill Murray could read the newspaper and he’d make it funny. Although The Man Who Knew Too Little doesn’t really give Murray’s character, Wallace Ritchie, many memorable characters to consort with, the situations and the ensuing dialogue are all he needs to make a very funny movie. Unlike, say, Groundhog Day or Scrooged, where Murray is a reluctant participant, as the man who doesn’t know this isn’t a gag, he stumbles through outlandish situation after situation, each time conquering impossible odds because he doesn’t know it’s for real.
Basically, Wallace is a talkative oddball who goes to see his brother, who ditches him in “The Theater of Life” so he can entertain business guests. But when Wallace answers the pay phone, gasp!, it’s for a real spy-guy named Spencer, which Wallace assumes is his character’s name. Sure, the whole plot is, um, something about getting some letters from some girl and then, like, blowing up a couple of diplomats just before they sign some paper that’ll end the Cold War, but, like, who cares?