The Man Who Knew Too Little PG  QUICK TAKE  Comedy: A simple mixup causes a man to believe he's acting in a "reality" play, when in fact he's stumbled into a deadly game of espionage. PLOT: Wallace Ritchie (BILL MURRAY) is an easygoing American who makes an unannounced trip to England to visit his brother James (PETER GALLAGHER), a banker who's about to close a large business deal over dinner. James doesn't want his brother anywhere near the meeting, so he signs him up for a performance of the "theater of life," a realism-based play where the spectator becomes the actor in a continually unfolding story. A phone call begins the performance, but little does Wallace know that the call he's answered is actually for a real-life hitman. He goes and meets his target, Lori (JOANNE WHALLEY), who's an apparent call girl with some mysterious blackmail letters that a group of "terrorists" is looking for. It seems these men, including cold war spies Sir Roger Daggenhurst (RICHARD WILSON) and Sergei (NICHOLAS WOODESON) are intent on disrupting a peace treaty between their native England and Russia and have set a timed explosive to stop the deal. Wallace, who thinks the events are still part of the play, unknowingly begins to disrupt their plans, and the men believe that he's some sort of super spy. Thus they send Boris "The Butcher" (ALFRED MOLINA) and others to stop him. As these men try to capture him and find out what Wallace knows, he continues his "performance," not knowing the real dangers that confront him.   Theme: Truth is hard to believe Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 More than A Movie: Wally Ritchie (Bill Murray) unwittingly becomes part of an international conspiracy, pretending to be a spy in what he believes is a "theater of life" performance. Boris and his goons capture "super spy" Wally Ritchie and inject him with truth serum to find out exactly who he works for. Wally tells them the truth (he works for Blockbuster Video), but the goons don't believe him. Instead, they decide Wally's superior espionage training prevents him from "cracking." It's amazing how we sometimes refuse to believe the obvious truth. This holds doubly true for spiritual truth. People refuse the free gift of salvation, believing either that it's not really free or that it places added rules and somehow "imprisons" them. They reject the simple truth that stares them in the face and cling to something that actually increases their burdens.   Discussion Questions:  When have you told people something that was absolutely true and they wouldn't believe you? What happened? Why do people sometimes refuse to believe the truth?  Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ASK: What simple things in the Bible do some people think are foolish? What has helped you move from skepticism to faith in your spiritual journey? What keeps you from accepting God's truth more whole-heartedly?   The DETAILS  ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE  People drink wine with their dinner, and later others have the same at the peace signing treaty. Wallace drinks a martini that Lori has fixed.    BLOOD/GORE  Boris has some blood stains on his apron (from being a real-life butcher in a butcher shop).   FRIGHTENING SCENES  Some viewers may find scenes listed under "Violence" as a little tense, but none of them are designed to be that way, and instead are played for laughs.   GUNS/WEAPONS  Bomb: Created during the opening credits and then set on a timer to explode during a peace signing treating at the end of the movie. It does kill two of the bad guys. Handguns: Used during an actual play, and later by real-life hitmen. See "Violence" for details. Knife: Used by Boris to threaten several people.  Switchblade/Bat: Used by two thugs to rob Wallace.    IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR  Phrases: "Piss off," "Stupid cow," "Go to hell," "Bastard," "Pansy," "Nut" (crazy), "Punk," "Bloody maniac," "Jerk," "Screwed" (nonsexual), "Doesn't that just bite it," "Bloody idiot," "Fartsy little dweeb," and "Shut up." Wallace pokes himself in the eye as he tries to get himself to cry "on cue" like he thinks actors do. Wallace, thinking it's part of the play and acting like his spy character, eludes the police during a car chase. During so, he purposefully drives over many little orange construction cones and a cop comments that he always wanted to do that himself. Wallace makes exaggerated nasal "snorting" and throat clearing sounds several times. Some kids may imitate Wallace and "play" with guns (where he thinks they're fake, when in fact they're quite real).   PROFANITY  1 "s" word, 3 damns, 2 hells, 2 craps, 2 asses, 1 S.O.B., and 4 uses of "Oh my God," 3 uses of "My God," and 1 use each of "G-damn," "Dear God," "Good God," and "For God's sakes" as exclamations.   SEX/NUDITY  We see a business card in a phone booth that shows the silhouette of a shapely woman with the words, "Temptress," "Will please," "Tease," and "Very versatile." Wallace tells James that he's "going to do it" (a scene with Lori), and James tells him, "Great. Do it with a girl and have a wonderful time." We see the upper and outside part of Lori's thigh as she pulls her garters up and later we see quite a bit of cleavage when she's dressed in a sexy maid's outfit. She then says to Wallace, "Do you think I look silly in this outfit? I can take it off if you like." Thinking that he's going to kill her, Lori asks Wallace for a last request. He says, "Like a cigarette?" She replies (as she nears his crotch), "I had something more substantial in mind." He then says, "Like a cigar?" to which she says, "Now you're boasting." She then starts to undo his pants while reaching for a gun, but he accidentally smashes her hand in the drawer and that activity ends there. Wallace tells Lori, "There's something I want. You're going to have to let me do it." She replies, "So it's like that." He says, "I'm afraid so," to which she says, "Typical men." He's referring, however, to driving the car. Distracted by his brother, James mistakenly says "sexports" instead of "exports" during his meeting. We see an older couple (he's tied up, she's dressed in leather) involved in some anniversary S&M activity where she lightly whips him. Boris tells an obviously gay male stage manager, "I'm looking for a tall American," to which the manger replies, "Aren't we all, dear?"   VIOLENCE  Almost everything listed below is played for laughs and isn't mean to be taken seriously. A man holds a gun on several people during a scene from a play.  A real hitman then shoots the above man dead with a silencer-equipped handgun. Two thugs rob Wallace and threaten him with a switchblade and a bat. Wallace (thinking his gun is a fake) shoots at the Minister of Defense and hits the phone he's holding. A hitman breaks through a window and grabs Lori, who tries to fight him. He eventually gets his arm around her neck, but lets go once Wallace aims his gun at him. Lori smacks Wallace after he says that she's the defense minister's call girl. Wallace and Lori find a dead man in a chair, but we don't know how he was killed, and Wallace thinks he's just an actor "playing" dead. Wallace, still thinking his gun is fake, shoots at Lori and just misses her. Several characters are knocked out by some sort of sedative injected into their arms. Boris holds a large knife to Wallace's throat, but his associates talk him out of killing Wallace. Wallace accidentally hits a man with a chair while another is knocked out after slipping on some marbles. Later, Wallace accidentally hits a waiter several times and likewise head butts him while sneezing. Police burst into James' home with their guns drawn.  Two men shoot at Wallace with a silencer-equipped gun and nearly hit him on the building ledge where he's standing. Wallace holds a gun to an S&M woman's head, while still acting like he's a spy. A torturer hooks James up to several electrodes, and while we don't see anything, it's implied he was slightly tortured. Boris knocks someone out with a little karate chop.  A man knocks out a helicopter pilot, and moments later it explodes, killing the two "bad guys" inside it.   GOOFS Revealing mistakes: When Lori checks her gun, it can clearly be seen that the cartridges visible have been fired. Revealing mistakes: When Wally points the revolver at Lori, you can see light through the chambers in the cylinder, indicating that there are no rounds - live or otherwise - in the gun. Factual errors: The German map shown at the presentation is completely wrong. Frankfurt is found roughly in the Munich area and so forth. Continuity: In the scene where Murray scares away the guy choking Lori through the window, there's a shot of Murray saying they should leave, wearing sunglasses. In the following shot, Murray's sunglasses have disappeared. Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Wally is on the ledge at the Plaza, he yells down to Jimmy several times. Several of the times he yells, his mouth actually isn't moving.   FUN FACTS Factual errors: Dr. Ludmila Kropotkin's name is nonsense in Russian. According to grammatical rules, Kropotkin is supposed to be a male whereas Ludmila is a female name. The assassin in the last scene is called "Venkman" - a reference to star Bill Murray's character in Ghost Busters (1984). In a scene in the hotel, a character is shown watching Jon Amiel's earlier film, Copycat (1995). After the interrogation scene in the hotel, Boris walks out of the room to call Dr. Ludmilla Kropotkin, and says: "Uri, get the rubber sheets... and watch that man." (pointing to Bill Murray's character). "Watch That Man" is the title of the novel on which the movie is based. This was the first feature film to be made at Elstree Studios after the local council bought it from Brent Walker under a Compulsory Purchase Order.