Johnny English *** (2003, Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia) – Classic Movie Review 1750

Rowan Atkinson plays dithering special agent Johnny English in this incredibly popular, idiotic James Bond spy spoof that has plenty of amateurish enthusiasm but little in the way of inspiration or big laughs. Based on a series of TV commercials for Barclaycard, it’s harmless but it lacks wit.

The unimaginative and tired old plot has Atkinson probing the theft of the Crown Jewels, which leads him to gorgeous femme fatale Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia) and a fey French creep called Pascale Sauvage (played, really badly, by esteemed American thespian John Malkovich) who wants to be king.

Director Peter Howitt’s 2003 film is a brisk and efficient piece of work, deploying a fairly lavish budget on a decent production. And Mr Bean’s millions of devoted fans will certainly be more than happy enough. But Atkinson is not best served by William Davies, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade’s feeble screenplay that delights in always taking the obvious route.

Tim Pigott-Smith (as Pegasus, Head of MI7), Kevin McNally (as the Prime Minister), Ben Miller, Douglas McFerran and Radha Mitchell also co-star, and Greg Wise plays Agent One.

In April 2003, it was the number one film in 21 countries, including its native Britain. Costing a relatively high $35million, it earned $160million worldwide, including a whopping £19million in the UK.

Sequel: Johnny English Reborn in 2011.

Johnny English’s Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is Atkinson’s own car. Writers Purvis and Wade worked on four real Bond movies: The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).

http://derekwinnert.com/bean-classic-film-review-791/

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1750

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/