Johnny English

Quality:*** Acceptability:+1

RATING: PG

STARRING: Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, Ben Miller, Natalie lmbruglia, and Douglass McFerrin

DIRECTOR: Peter Howitt

PRODUCERS: Tim Beran, Eric Fellner, and Mark Huffman

WRITERs: William Davies, Neal Purvis, and RobertWade

DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures

GENRE: Comedy/Spy Spoof

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older children to adults

SUMMARY: Johnny English is a delightfully silly summer comedy starring Rowan Atkinson, Mr. Bean, in the title role, as a bumbling spy clerk who gets the chance to be England's number one secret agent when the Crown Jewels are stolen. Fans of James Bond, Inspector Clouseau, and Maxwell Smart, and those who would like a cleaner Austin Powers movie, may love this genial spoof, which, however, contains a few obscenities, brief toilet humor, and other light objectionable content.

English slides in and out of being smooth and then abruptly bumbling in a way that makes him quite charming. John Malkovich is funny as the evil, smirking French villain, but could have taken that vil-lainy a bit further for more comic effect. Also, his character is another greedy, maniacal businessman, an anti-capitalist cliche. All in all, however, Johnny English is a nice oasis of silliness and fairly clean summer fun, especially for those who avoid Austin Powers for its crassness and vulgarity.

CONTENT: Moral worldview with highly patriotic protagonist; anti-capitalist element where villain is a greedy, wealthy businessman; a few anti-Christian jokes where criminal has "Jesus is coming; look busy" tattooed on his lower back and where hero mistakes Anglican archbishop for someone else, mixed with serious, positive Christian elements at a funeral .and in a coronation ceremony; five obscenities, two light profanities, and bathroom humor; light action violence and comic violence none bloody, such as car chase, and gunfire

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 28, 2003
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