Jack Raymond Movies
An unhinged parody of James Bond theatrics, Johnny English finds Mr. Bean himself suiting up as the eponymous super spy for a series of wild and silly adventures. A lowly pencil pusher working for the MI7 agency, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is suddenly promoted to super spy after Agent One is assassinated and every other agent is blown up at his funeral. When billionaire entrepreneur Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich) sponsors the exhibition of the Crown Jewels and the valuable gems disappear on the opening night, and on the watch of English, the newly designated agent must jump into action to uncover the thief and procure the missing valuables. Tracking the thieves' underground escape route with sidekick Bough (Ben Miller), English locks in on Sauvage despite repeated assurances by boss Pegasus (Tim Pigott-Smith) that the respected entrepreneur has nothing to do with the crime. Could the mysterious Lorna (Natalie Imbruglia), who has an odd habit of turning up at the wrong place at the wrong time, hold the key to helping Johnny? A massive hit overseas, Johnny English held its own at the box office in early April 2003, and was slated for wide release in the U.S. If the spoofing in Johnny English strikes especially close to home, that may be because the film was scripted by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who teamed to pen such Bond adventures as Die Another Day and The World is Not Enough. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, (more)
"Barley" Scott Blair (Sean Connery) is an alcoholic book editor from a bargain-basement publishing house in Great Britain who'd rather be drinking in Lisbon than attending a book dealers' show in Russia. So he's surprised when a CIA agent (Mac McDonald) pulls him from his boozy holiday. It seems that the CIA has through a book show intermediary received a package from a Russian book editor named Katya (Michelle Pfeiffer) containing amazingly detailed notebooks written by a cynical Russian physicist named "Dante" (Klaus-Maria Brandauer). The notebooks show that Russia's nuclear threat is a joke: Russian rockets "suck instead of blow...and can't hit Nevada on a clear day," in the acerbic words of CIA Agent Russell Sheridan (Roy Scheider). But why is Dante sending the notebooks to Blair? How shall the Western world respond to what could be the end of the nuclear arms race? Blair gets drafted by a British Secret Service agent (James Fox) to go to the new Russia to meet Katya. He must see whether the new Russia is still immersed in the old Cold War and whether the notebooks are genuine or another deadly chapter in the war of the spies. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
- 1990
- PG
Ian Bertram (Robert Lindsay) is a mathematical genius who works as an accountant for a multinational firm based in England. When he meets Cary Porter (Molly Ringwald), who recently started working for the same company, Ian immediately falls in love and quickly proposes marriage. Cary accepts, and they plan a modest wedding, but when Ian's accounting skills earn him the admiration of company head Herbert Dreuther (John Geilgud), Herbert offers to pay for a honeymoon in Monte Carlo and give them a ride back on his yacht. But while Mr. Dreuther means well, he has problems with his memory, and once Ian and Cary get to Monte Carlo, Herbert has forgotten all about them. Stuck at the hotel with a large bill that he can't afford, Ian works out a plan to win at roulette; his scheme works, and he earns enough to pay their bill, get them home, and have plenty left over. But his sudden success at the gambling tables makes Ian drunk with power, and Cary discovers that her new husband has turned into a power-hungry tyrant. Strike It Rich was adapted from the novel Loser Takes All by Graham Greene; it has been shown under the novel's title, as well as under the title Money Talks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Lindsay, Molly Ringwald, (more)
