Customer Reviews

The Search for John Gissing

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I too got this film to add to my growing collection of Alan Rickman films and was sadly disappointed. I found Mike Binder to be annoying and ridiculous beyond measure and the absolute implausibility of the storyline caused me to roll my eyes so many times I had a headache by the end of the movie! The whole nun thing was awful. And as has been said before in other reviews here, the likes of Janeane Garofalo and Juliet Stevenson are wasted.

Oddly enough, despite my negative impression of the film as a whole, I have a great desire to see Alan Rickman do more comedy. I adore him in his dramatic roles but he has a gift for symphonic sarcasm that keeps me wanting more. Who knows, however, why he chose this project. I sincerely hope some smartly written comedies (let me stress this again, this was not smartly or even well written) come his way.

I paid an arm and a leg to get this movie to add to my Rickman collection before it was widely available, and it was worth it. Alan Rickman has described himself an instrument. He is most known for "playing that instrument" as a heavy, and even as a romatic lead. He does each brilliantly. But in Gissing, he proves that he also has perfect comic timing. The movie is a little choppy in its transition editing, perhaps because someone thought this was creative. It is not. However Alan Rickman's performance is incredible. If you are a Rickman fan, you absolutely must own this. If your don't know much about him (where HAVE you been?), you will be a fan when you see this.

This movie has the fatal stench of "vanity project." To be an ambitious actor of unknown quality is to be an actor who has to write a movie for himself, then has to direct it so he can cast himself. Mike Binder is the actor/writer/director who knitted this series of cliches and old Neil Simon together as a gift to his own career. No one told him that "The Out of Towners" had been made some 30 years ago, and even the much, much more likable and talented Jack Lemmon couldn't make its irritating plot tolerable. No one told Mike Binder that there is only gonna be one Ben Stiller. So hopeful he is to be Ben Stiller that he even fetched one of Ben Stiller's former company members, Janeane Garafolo, to play his wife. As the wife, she gets to complain a lot, follow her man from port to port while having no other wish for herself than to settle down and give birth to his children. When you write your own husband role, you get to make yourself a wife like that-- one who's nearly as focused on you as you are.

The writing and directing are uninspired and often lazy. Mike Binder's acting, that present he created for himself, is indeed a watered down Stiller imitation. Unlike his role model, he does run around a lot, which seems to be his acting shorthand for funny. There's his writer/director mediocre attempt to make secondary characters lovably kooky, but by golly, they are poorly realized, never engaging or endearing, just thrown in because, hey, that's what Ben Stiller would do. Mike Binder doesn't seem to have the skill set to make what he's attempting work, hard as he tries to mimic other well-worn comic formulas.

Binder's more self-brutalizing mistake is one even actor/writer/director Kevin Costner made-- allowing himself to be measured against Alan Rickman. Again, why didn't anyone tell him? You cannot out perform Alan Rickman. Rickman is lightly used in the first half of the movie, then dominates the last half. He seems to relish his chance at screwball comedy, and he plays what he's given with deft delight. Although he is the root of all the Binder character's frustrations, Rickman's John Gissing is still the most engagingly appealing character of the bunch. It's a relief when John Gissing is finally found and begins to occupy real screen time.

While Alan Rickman consistently out classes Mike Binder's performance, God bless Alan Rickman's involvement. Without his name on the credits, no one would have sought this movie out. It would have remained with the other vanity projects of needy actors turned writer/directors. Gone. Forgotten-- just the source of the faint sour smell of desperately failed self-promotion wafting up from the bottom of the clearance bin at Blockbusters.

This film is a very disappointing outing. It's a rather contrived, badly plotted film about a corporate manager who is transferred to London to oversee a merger, and gets the shaft by the title character. While there are a few funny passages in the film, there are a lot of very dull stretches. Most of the dialogue is expository, resulting in a film with absolutely no narrative flow. It plods from one setpiece to another, and ends up being an absolute chore to finish. Much of the slapstick quality of it feels forced, and it feels like a sitcom where logic and character development go straight out the window. The character's motivation make little to no sense at all. It's one of the most paper thin scripts I've ever seen in a movie.

There are some good things about it. It has an excellent cast. Alan Rickman is good as usual, and Janeane Garofalo is very good here, despite her character being underwritten. It's nice to see her play a relatively normal person here instead of the dumpy romantic lead or the sarcastic chick. Her character here has some sarcastic dialogue, but there's some tenderness there as well, a side she rarely shows in her work. Mike Binder wrote, directed, and stars in the film, and has good screen presence and good chemistry with Garofalo. His writing, however, is very poor and the flashy direction is annoying. The flashy direction seems to be compensating for the fact that the source material is so flimsy to being with. Juliet Stevenson, Allan Courdiner, and Nigel Terry (all excellent actors) are wasted in roles that end up being caricatures, and there's a silly plot involving a fake nun. The film never got a release stateside, and only recently got released to DVD. It's easy to see why.

The premise of this film is that business is the new American battleground--a sentiment that was unfortunately undone by the events of 9/11. It remains, however, deliciously funny. Alan Rickman's comic timing is exquisite. The dancing that takes place under the closing credits alone is well worth the price of the DVD. This has been available for more than a year--as I recall--at Mike Binder's site. It's nice to see Amazon (Seattle's own!) finally offering it. A gem of a film.

A very clever, witty script and excellent performances make this a film well worth watching.

The plot focuses on an American businessman who is sent to London to lead a European business merger, and his British counterpart, who has been passed over for the job. Played by the brilliant Alan Rickman, the British character devises all kinds of schemes and foils to undermine and demolish his American competition. The American figures out the schemes and retaliates with an eye for an eye, and it is very funny.

This is a perfect movie for a light hearted escape. Should have received more attention when it first came out.

It is a pity that this movie has not been given a cinematic release. But now we can be grateful it has found its way to DVD.

This is a very funny movie that allows the star of the show Alan Rickman to show his considerable comic qualities. For those who only think of him as a movie villain, this movie must come as a real eye-opener. As a very versatile actor who is excellent doing all kinds of characters, he is truly outstanding as John Gissing. One should be a little careful with spoilers, but e.g. the business with the chair and a word rhyming with Gissing is hilarious. Also great footwork during the credits!

The rest of the cast provide great performances, too, so it all adds up to a great evening in watching this movie.

A generous amount of deleted scenes, rounds it all up perfectly. Only wish some of them could have been edited into the movie.

So what are you waiting for - this DVD is a must have.

Alan Rickman is funny as hell as a British business man doing whatever he can to prevent an American equal from looking good & taking his job! Great supporting cast....laugh a minute!!

I am a HUGE Alan Rickman fan. I have honestly watched everything he was ever in and I have to say this film is absolutely the best. Not only do you get your fix of the ever sexy Alan Rickman you will be laughing your butt off. It's Rickman in a whole new light. I HIGHLY recommend this film. I loved it so much that after forcing my roommates to watch it with me three of them purchased it for their own collection.

Matthew Barnes (Mike Binder) and his wife (Janeane Garofalo) have just arrived in London, where he is to finalize an important merger for his company, but from the moment they step off the plane, everything goes wrong. John Gissing (Alan Rickman), his company contact, was supposed to arrange a driver, a suite, and a bank account, but none of it has materialized and Gissing himself is missing. The only one who wants to help is a very unusual nun.

The first half of this movie is laugh-out-loud funny with madcap misadventures reminiscent of The Out-of-Towners with a bit of a mystery as well. Writer/director/star Binder is quite likable as the Everyman/Underdog hero, but he looks and acts so much like Ben Stiller than I kept wishing they'd just hired Stiller instead. Garofalo is her usual wise-cracking persona and is very funny. Alan Rickman isn't on-screen nearly enough, but his scenes are the best.

The second half bogs down into an endless discussion of Matthew's Merger/Acquisition/Big Deal and I found it confusing and tedious. This is supposed to be an office farce about jealousy and climbing the corporate ladder at all costs, but the last hour was dull and relied too much on silly slapstick humor.

Recommended if you're an Alan Rickman fan or have nothing better to watch.