‘Man Who Knew’ an Audience Who Laughed Too Little

MISSION VIEJO — In “The Man Who Knew Too Little,” Bill Murray plays a likable loser who, while visiting his brother in London, unwittingly becomes the focus of an international conspiracy. He thinks he’s in an interactive theater production but actually has been mistaken for a world-class secret agent.

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Bill Murray is a crossover star, at least to Kimberly Fuller, a 13-year-old who regularly watches Murray in reruns of old “Saturday Night Live” episodes.

Kimberly plunks down on the sofa with her dad, Jim, and laughs and laughs and laughs. “He has such a funny face, the way he does stuff,” said Kimberly, of Mission Viejo.

She wasn’t alone at a recent screening of Murray’s latest, “The Man Who Knew Too Little.” Several kids said they’ve liked Murray and his movies for a long time, even though he started his career by appealing to their parents.

But that didn’t mean they went for “The Man Who Knew Too Little.” Like Kimberly, many felt it had a few “bomb” (meaning good) moments but stalled more than revved. Kimberly decided the comedy was too laid-back.

“I was wanting [more quickly paced] jokes,” she explained. “It didn’t get going.”

Some youngsters admitted they may have expected too much. The plot, with its secret agent angle, reminded them of “Austin Powers,” a hit a few months ago for Mike Myers, another “SNL” alum.

That comedy wrapped its humor around the idea of an unlikely hero performing unbelievably cool and dangerous stunts, like Murray’s oblivious character in “The Man Who Knew Too Little.” But to them, Myers pulled it off.

Myers “was [funny] because he did a lot of crazy things,” said Jaime Mendoza, 11, of Lake Forest. “[Murray] didn’t do anything.”

Neither were kids drawn in by the plot device of having Murray’s character thinks he’s a spy in an interactive theater experience. His ability to miraculously avoid one real-life hazard after another challenged their credulity, even though the movie was only a comedy.

“If it would have been better, you probably wouldn’t care” that the story was so unbelievable, explained Lawrence Hansen, 15, of Mission Viejo.

Besides being farfetched, he said, the plot grew tired fast, and even Murray couldn’t sustain it.

Was there any reason to recommend “The Man Who Knew Too Much”?

Lawrence did like the last scenes, when Murray becomes a dancer in a Russian folk troupe. While everyone else performs gracefully, Murray tries desperately to keep up, looking quite the fool.

“That was hysterical,” Lawrence said.

Kimberly and Jaime also liked a passage where Murray evades the cops in a high-speed chase through London’s back streets. “He had this little, tiny car [and] still outraced them,” Kimberly said.

“And [the police] were so dumb,” Jaime added, “they couldn’t do anything right, and [Murray] just fooled them every time.”

As for Joanne Whalley, who plays Murray’s love interest, the mistress of a top-level politico, most kids said she had little impact.

“She was pretty, but you don’t think much about her,” Lawrence said. “She didn’t make me laugh or anything.”

Kimberly felt the same way, stressing that Whalley, like Murray, would have been better if she’d been more animated. “They needed to be [more physical] with each other and the jokes,” she said. “They just didn’t really work together in a funny way.”

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PARENTS’ PERSPECTIVE: Adults looking for a family film could find only one good thing to say about “The Man Who Knew Too Little”--that it wouldn’t be toxic to young minds.

But was it worth the ticket?

“Sporadically funny but pretty much dull,” offered Judy Menke of Irvine.

Menke took her son, 9, and daughter, 12, and all three were bored. “Look elsewhere” for something better, Menke advised.

Jim Fuller agreed. “I liked it more than [Kimberly] did because I almost believe that Murray can do no wrong. But she couldn’t get into it. That’s bad, [because] I worry about her having a bad time.”

* FAMILY FILMGOER, Page 30