Johnny English
Cast
Rowan Atkinson .... Johnny English
Natalie Imbruglia .... Lorna Campbell
Ben Miller .... Bough
John Malkovich .... Pascal Sauvage
Tim Pigott-Smith .... Pegasus
Directed by
Peter Howitt
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
7/10. Now, this movie has got to be one of the funniest movies I've seen this year (2004, Feb), but i couldn't believe I was sitting down to watch this movie either. Rowan Atkinson plays Johnny English, the bumbling low entry level agent where he's responsible for nearly every mishap that happens, yet blames it on other people to make himself look better. Rowan is genuinely funny, and there really is no one like him. His role in Rat Race was hilarious, and his role here was hilarious too. Natalie Imbruglia was good as the "Bond" girl. Though if she were in a Bond flick, she played too much of a role. Ben Miller as Bough was funny too as Rowan's sidekick. He came up with things on the spot that were hilarious and then Rowan's character is like "deh...".
The technical aspect of this movie working in England was perfect. It wouldn't have worked in the U.S.A. because the President is voted on not inherited. The French provided good enemies (as usual) and the story line was generally funny.
I think if it weren't for the jokes in this movie, it would have failed miserably. Rater #2 is right by saying that if Rowan didn't act in this movie, it would have failed. He makes the movie, and then the other actors come in for fillers. If it weren't for all the jokes, I would have downed this movie to about a 2 or 3.
All in all, if you don't mind sitting down for 90 minutes to watch some actor bumble through the movie, then don't watch it. Otherwise, you'll enjoy it.
Rater #2
7/10. There are three types of British comedy. There's the snooty unfunny
type (Gosford Park), the funny one-liner type (Murder by Death), and
pure slapstick (Johnny English). There's no humor in Johnny English
that isn't slapstick. And shoot me, I fell for it! I laughed when
English interrupted a funeral, I chuckled whenever English didn't
realize something, and, by Jove, I even cracked a smile when he was
climbing up through a public latrine. It's no Austin Powers, but
Johnny English does its business (no pun intended) as yet another
spoof of the spy genre and making us laugh.
Rowan Atkinson, who you may remember as the voice of Zazu in The Lion
King or the narcoleptic from Rat Race, makes this work. No one else's
bumbling (and I mean BUMBLING) enough to take on the roll of Johnny
English. Although he's a bad actor, he portrays the right amount of
camp to pull off this role. It's because of Atkinson that this movie
was a huge hit over in its country of the United Kingdom. If it had
been someone else, the wacky charm of English wouldn't work.
The lame brained plot had bumbling English as the lowest agent at
MI7. However, when everyone else is killed, he's the only man for the
job of protecting the crown jewels, and, of course they're stolen. He
thinks that Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich) (where DO they get their
names?), the man who donated money to help restore the jewels, did
it, but doesn't have proof, so he goes and tries to prove it. Along
the way, the obligatory love interest is Lorna Campbell (Natalie
Imbruglia, her movie career may be like her music career: a one-hit
wonder).
I could live on slapstick humor. Although at times it's crude (see
opening paragraph), and there are quite a few lulls, with some jokes
going on for too long, Johnny English is a great example of a non-
summer summer movie. It's foreign, it's PG but not completely aimed
towards kids, it doesn't have huge stars, it isn't animated, and it's
pretty funny. It's a breath of relief from the barrage of action
sequels we've been getting.
Rated PG for comic nudity, some crude humor and language.
Running time: 88 minutes
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