Line #58 Film/TheManWhoKnewTooLittle


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
4	%%
5	%%
6	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tmwktl_7648.gif]]
7
8	->'''Wallace:''' Was that a tear? ...How do you people do it? Did you... poke yourself in the eye? Or are you thinking right now: "My dog is dead"?\
9	'''Lori:''' What's the matter with you? Are you enjoying this?\
10	'''Wallace:''' Enormously. "My dog is dead." ''[pokes himself in the eye]'' "My dog is ''dead''."
11
12	A 1997 film written by Robert Farrar (adapted from his novel ''Watch That Man'') and starring Creator/BillMurray and Creator/AlfredMolina, which combines AndYouThoughtItWasAGame with Main/MistakenForBadass.
13
14	Wallace Ritchie (Murray) is an American [[DeadlyRoadTrip vacationing in London]], hoping to spend his birthday with his brother Jimmy (Creator/PeterGallagher). Unfortunately, James has an important business dinner; in order to get rid of Wallace for the evening, he signs him up for an evening with the Theatre of Life, an [[{{LARP}} experimental hyper-realistic audience-participation theater.]]
15
16	Wallace receives information, via a phone call, about the character he should play; unknown to him, the calls get mixed up, and he instead receives instructions intended for a real hit-man.
17
18	Wallace proceeds to [[LargeHam ham his way]] through the underworld of secret agents and espionage. He almost immediately decides to break from "the script" and help the person he was ordered to kill: Lori (Creator/JoanneWhalley), a [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold call-girl with a heart of gold]] who's trying to blackmail the Defence Minister she's been sleeping with. Along the way, Wally accidentally convinces his "superiors" that he's a loose cannon who knows of their devious scheme to restart the Cold War by blowing up the dignitaries at a historic peace accord. And all the while, Wallace thinks the bullets, TruthSerums, car chases and dead bodies are AllPartOfTheShow.
19
20	It should be noted that, beyond the [[strike:similar titles]] title which is obviously a [[ShoutOut reference]] (and [[MistakenForSpies superficial plot similarities]]), this film has nothing to do with Hitchcock's thriller ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooMuch''.
21	----
22	!!This film provides examples of:
23	* ActorAllusion: As described in the synopsis, Lori is a call girl once involved with the Defence Minister. Creator/JoanneWhalley's StarMakingRole in ''Film/Scandal1989'' was as Christine Keeler, a real-life showgirl involved with, among others, John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War.
24	* AffablyEvil: Boris Blavasky. While he may be a ruthless hit-man, it's just his job. He's very happy with his other job as a butcher, and shows great respect for Wallace when he keeps evading his assassination attempts.
25	* AndYouThoughtItWasAGame: The basis of the film. Wallace inadvertently gets tangled in a real terrorist conspiracy without realizing it, as he believes the whole thing is staged.
26	* AnonymousPublicPhoneCall: There is an inversion, where a British spy agency sends verbal instructions to their assassins and other agents by calling up a public phone booth at a predetermined time. What sets off the plot is when one of these calls goes wrong: The assassin is a few minutes late, and another guy picks up the phone and [[AndYouThoughtItWasAGame mistakes the instructions for part of the experimental LARP session he'd signed up for]].
27	* AnticlimaxCut: In one scene, Wallace tells Lori that he's not completely a good guy, that if she wants his help, she'll have to do something for him. The dialogue is set up to make the viewer think Wallace is talking about sex... then the scene cuts to Wallace driving Lori's Mini Cooper. The joke is [[DontExplainTheJoke kind of ruined]] by the fact that they then have Wallace say, "Thanks for letting me drive."
28	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Possibly an intentional use: during James' business presentation, the map of Germany is shown. The major cities are labeled... with the names of other German cities.
29	* AxeBeforeEntering: Used as a blatant ShoutOut to ''Film/TheShining''. For extra points, he uses a croquet mallet, which is similar to what Jack Torrance used in [[Literature/TheShining the original novel]].
30	* BalconyEscape: Wallace prefers doing this for the film because its much more dramatic than the more conventional method. Since he isn't that strong, he has trouble doing it.
31	* BangBangBANG: [[LampshadeHanging "Whoa that was loud."]]
32	* TheBaroness: Dr. Ludmilla Kropotkin averts the superficial aspects of the "evil lady torturer" stereotype. But Wallace's [[WrongGenreSavvy familiarity with that particular trope]] leads him to mistake the first septuagenarian dominatrix he meets for Dr. Kropotkin.
33	* BlackComedy:
34	** Referenced and played with. Wallace Ritchie is just having fun gawking at the elaborate "sets" and the performances of his fellow "actors", but Lori interprets his light-hearted demeanor around so much death and danger as a sign that he is an [[LackOfEmpathy emotionally-stunted]] hitman with a [[LaughablyEvil seriously depraved sense of humor]].
35	** At the end where Wallace is being recruited to be an assassin, he believes they are hiring him to be an actor and offers to do the work for free for children and old people. [[WouldHurtAChild Think about that for a moment, and you'll see why "the team" looked mildly shocked at Wally's response.]]
36	* BlackmailBackfire: After learning about their plot due to pillow talk, HookerWithAHeartOfGold Lori is trying to blackmail Embleton and his fellow {{Spooks}} about their assassination plot. Predictably, they send an assassin to kill her, but she survives due to Wallace and the assassin accidentally getting each other's instructions.
37	* TheButcher: Boris Blavasky. In this case, it has a dual meaning -- "Butcher" because his work as a spy/hitman is so brutal and messy, but also because "butcher" is ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin actually his day job]]''.
38	--> '''Sergei''': Why so gloomy? Is better than being butcher.\
39	'''Boris''': I ''like'' being butcher. You know exactly who you are killing... and ''why''.
40	* CleanupCrew: Averted. Boris wants to use his favorite "messy" interrogation technique, but his assistants dissuade him, because "It is fun for you, but ''we'' have to ''clean up'' afterward!"
41	* ContrivedCoincidence: One right after the other. This movie pretty much runs on it.
42	* CringeComedy: Many moments, but the scene where Wallace jokes about the dead body stands out in particular. From the perspective of Lori and of the audience, he's playing the death of a man for laughs right in front of his corpse.
43	* DeadlyRoadTrip: When Wallace travels to the UK, he gets involved in an international conspiracy, a hitman is sent to kill him, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking he gets mugged]].
44	* DefeatMeansFriendship: After his assassination attempts of Wallace fails for the umpteenth time, Boris gains so much respect for him that [[spoiler:he embraces Wallace, gives him a [[ICallItVera gun of sentimental value]] and announces his intention to retire and become a butcher full time]].
45	* DidTheEarthMoveForYouToo: "Wow, that felt like an explosion."
46	* ElectricTorture: Dr. Kropotkin's preferred method.
47	* TheFool: Wallace is ditzy enough to accidentally get involved in an international conspiracy without ever realizing what is really going on, and yet he manages to stop the terrorists' plot and avoid getting murdered by a hitman, among other streaks of pure dumb luck.
48	* FrenchMaid: Lori's costume in her introductory scene.
49	* GermanicDepressives: At Jimmy's business dinner, he goes into a speech about how warm and welcoming the German people were to him. A German businessman quips, [[SelfDeprecation "You sure you were in Germany?"]]
50	* HeyCatch: "You've got to see just how dead they are. They might be able to '''catch this!'''"
51	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Sir Roger and Sergei [[spoiler: get blown up by their own bomb.]]
52	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Lori, though she insists she's not a call-girl. [[ImplausibleDeniability Even though she accepted money for sex with the Minister of Defence]]. Perhaps she's quibbling over doing it regularly.
53	* [[IAlwaysWantedToSayThat I Always Wanted To Do That]]: Knocking over traffic cones during a car chase.
54	* InspectorOblivious: Wallace has no idea that he stopped a plot to bomb a peace meeting.
55	* InstantSedation: The contract killers' sedative pens work instantly
56	* LingerieScene: Lori's introduction shows her in lingerie.
57	* MistakenForSpies: Wallace is not a spy, but everyone mistakes him for one.
58	* NotSoFakePropWeapon: As Wallace believes everything is staged, he accidentally fires a real gun and almost shoots a man, thinking the gun was a prop.
59	* NobleTopEnforcer: Soviet assassin Boris "The Butcher" (who works part-time as an actual butcher) shows a fair amount of respect for Wallace, treats his men well, and is unhappy about being told to kill people without knowing why. [[spoiler:Eventually, he gets a HeelFaceTurn unlike his employers.]]
60	* TheNounWhoVerbed: "The Man Who Knew Too Little"
61	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Ninety-four solid minutes of this trope.
62	-->'''Wallace''': Aren't we both just acting? In the Theater of Life, I mean.\
63	'''Lori''': ...[[SureLetsGoWithThat I guess so]].
64	* PerformanceAnxiety:
65	-->'''James:''' [Wallace] got the lead part in the school play, but on opening night... I never knew it was possible for someone to forget so much so quickly without a severe blow to the head.
66	* PoorCommunicationKills: The conspiracy falls apart because of their secrecy and failure to clearly communicate. One of the reasons why the main conspirators think Wallace is an American agent is that one fails to tell the other that ''Boris'' killed Spencer, not Wallace. The plumbers don't realize this either and assume Wallace killed him and wrongly reported it. Between that and Wallace's own antics, this leads them to make one assumption too many and panic. See HoistByHisOwnPetard.
67	* ThePrecariousLedge: Played with and lampshaded: "There's a hallway! We can walk."
68	* ProfessionalKiller: Spencer, Boris, and The Plumbers. All are Hitmen rather than Assassins.
69	* ReactiveContinuousScream: Happens when Wallace and Lori find a dead body.
70	* RepeatedRehearsalFailure: At the beginning, Jimmy keeps rehearsing a presentation he's going to give at a business dinner that evening. He keeps flubbing one line, saying "Our greatest strength is our diversity," when it's supposed to be "Our greatest strength is our ''diversification''." When it comes time to give the presentation for real, he messes up again and says "diversity"--but a phone call from his brother interrupts, so no one notices the flub.
71	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: During the climax, Wallace has the bomb and seems poised to either discover it or prematurely detonate it in full view of the conspirators and dozens of [=VIP=]s. Defense Minister Embleton hurriedly flees the ballroom, to the frustration of his conspirators.
72	* SevenMinuteLull: Jimmy is hurriedly trying to end a phone conversation with Wallace as he tells him how much fun it is working with Lori and how he's looking forward to his next scene with her. Wouldn't you know the dinner chatter dies down just as Jimmy loudly says, [[AccidentalInnuendo "Great! Do it with the girl and have a good time!"]]
73	* ShaggyDogStory: Often cited as a flaw in the film is that Wallace ''never'' realizes the whole thing is real, leaving the movie feeling like a long joke with some amusing bits along the way but no actual punchline. Even as the credits roll, he has two hard-as-nails spies acting out badly-remembered scenes from ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'', never realizing they're both ''scared out of their wits'' because he went AssassinOutclassin apparently effortlessly and don't want to be next.
74	* SociopathicHero: Viewing the events of the movie from the point of view of the actual spies can lead to a wildly different interpretation of Wallace. He comes off as an absurdly skilled (even by badass standards) rogue agent who is doing everything he does [[BunnyEarsLawyer just for laughs]], and that it's so easy for him, he can afford to goof around and just do whatever amuses him at the time. Among his many deeds include pretending like he's going to execute Lori [[ForTheEvulz for no reason whatsoever,]] playing with a dead body and applauding it for being so remarkably dead, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and running over traffic cones]] while fleeing assassins, simply because he's always wanted to do it and now seemed like a good time. Basically, to those not in on the joke (everyone but Wallace), he might as well be the super-spy version of ComicBook/TheJoker.
75	* ShoutOut:
76	** The man disguised as a waiter who approaches Wallace in the end of the film is addressed as [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} "Venkman."]]
77	** When Boris leaves his minions alone with Wallace he instructs them "...and watch that man." -- referencing the source material of the film.
78	* SpannerInTheWorks: Wallace represents this trope like no one else. Convinced that everything was one giant bit of role-play, Wallace manages to single-handedly convince a veteran assassin to retire ''and'' dismantles a covert international plan to escalate the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, saving god knows how many people in the process.
79	* SpySpeak: Wallace is told to "flush" Lori, i.e. kill her. Parodied shortly after when the government handlers ask Wallace if he flushed Lori and Wallace says that she went to the bathroom by herself, which they assume means she committed suicide.
80	* StandardSnippet: Korobeiniki, a traditional Russian folk song, features in this film. Of course, most of you know it as "The Tetris Theme".
81	* SureLetsGoWithThat: Once they witness Wallace's apparent badassery, pretty much everyone just smiles and goes along with whatever the idiot decides, thinking that kind of thing is just what [[BunnyEarsLawyer crazy superspies]] ''do.''
82	* ThatCameOutWrong: Boris the Butcher, searching for Wallace backstage where the Russian dancers are setting up, runs into the CampGay director.
83	-->'''Director:''': Excuse me, no entry without a pass.\
84	'''Boris''': I am looking for a tall American man.\
85	'''Director''': Aren't we all, darling. But I must ask you to leave.
86	* ThatRussianSquatDance: Goofier than most actual satires, as Wallace is cradling a bomb disguised as a [[MatryoshkaObject Matryoshka]] doll. And manages to ''disarm it entirely by accident.''
87	* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Wallace expects Dr. Kropotkin, the "evil torturer lady", to look the part. She doesn't.
88	* TruthSerum: Except [[CassandraTruth no one believes Wallace when he's under the influence]].
89	-->'''Boris the Butcher''': Who you are working for?\
90	'''Wallace Ritchie''': Blockbuster Video, Des Moines Iowa.\
91	'''Boris the Butcher''': ''Who'' you are ''working'' for?\
92	'''Wallace Ritchie''': Blockbuster Video, Des Moines Iowa!\
93	'''Boris the Butcher''': Damn! They train them so well!
94	* UnusualEuphemism: In addition to the aforementioned "Remember to flush", there's "Spencer knows how to deal with floaters! Tell him to use a plunger or we're sunk!"
95	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
96	** Wallace's sister-in-law Barbara is last seen when the police raid her house looking for Wallace. She is never shown reuniting with her husband, finding out what happened, or being released from custody.
97	** Daggenhurst's aide Hawkins disappears during the climax and isn't present when [[spoiler:his boss and Sergei get blown up.]]
98	* WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell: Sir Roger and Sergai's motivation. They were heads of British and Russian intelligence (respectively) and now they're collaborating to restart hostilities between their nations, because they have nothing else to do.
99	* WorthyOpponent: Boris comes to feel this way about Wallace after getting thwarted enough times.
100	* WrongGenreSavvy: Everyone who sees Wallace soon comes to the conclusion they're dealing with a master spy with an uncanny ability to survive things and see him as either a hero or a WorthyOpponent. The idea that he has absolutely no clue what is really happening and thinks it's a game is impossible for them to imagine.

Context Film / TheManWhoKnewTooLittle