THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO LITTLE

This is a mildly amusing, generally moral comedy built around a clever idea: a blissfully ignorant American thinks he is acting in a role-playing show while becoming entangled in real international terrorism. Bill Murray gives the movie zest and charm, generating laughs by treating danger as if everything were part of the game.

The film keeps violence and foul language relatively low, and its thrills are mostly situational and benign. But it is essentially a one-joke movie, and the supporting cast does not get enough opportunities to increase the comedy. A brief sexual scene involving an older couple is the movie's major blemish.

If you want a relatively safe adult comedy and can use discernment about that scene, this is worth the trip for older teens and adults.

Wallace Ritchie, a would-be actor from Des Moines, Iowa, visits his brother in England. To keep Wallace occupied during an important dinner, his brother gives him a ticket to an interactive theatrical performance where patrons role-play as secret agents.

But Wallace soon picks up a call connected to actual terrorists planning to destroy a peace summit. Believing the danger is part of the show, Wallace blunders through international intrigue while everyone around him tries to understand what he is doing.

Three stars means an amusing comedy with a winning lead but limited range. Bill Murray is at his top form, bringing zest and charm to Wallace and finding many laughs in the character's confusion. The British-comedy setting, international locations, intrigue, and crazy antics give the movie an appealing throwback quality.

The weakness is that the film remains largely a one-joke comedy. It could have used more varied humor and more chances for the supporting cast to ham it up. Murray has to carry the movie himself, but he carries it agreeably.

The film presents a very light moral worldview in which an apparently foolish man unintentionally foils crime. It also includes internationalist elements through its peace summit and international terrorist plot. The movie does not offer much instruction beyond the idea that “the foolish of this world can confound the wise,” and its moral center comes more from comic action than from a developed spiritual vision.

The story treats Wallace's foolishness as a source of unexpected good, while the terrorists, thieves, and people pursuing selfish goals are opposed. It does not explore deeper questions of justice, repentance, or the meaning of good and evil. Its English stereotypes are part of the comic style rather than a serious account of British life.

The film's central idea—that apparent foolishness can overturn the plans of the powerful—echoes Scripture: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Bill Murray brings real charm to this energetic British-style comedy, and its violence and language are relatively mild. A brief sexual scene keeps it from being suitable for everyone. For older teens and adults who can use discernment, WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER TEENS AND ADULTS.