When in America, do as Americans do and watch Johnny English on HBO. I am an ‘old’ Atkinson fan, just like people are ‘old’ Prince or ‘old’ David Bowie fans. I like him in Not the 9 o’ Clock News and Blackadder more than as Mr. Bean and therefore didn’t really have high expectations of Johnny English which was probably a good thing.

As a James Bond spoof it was relatively entertaining if you like subtle slapstick (is that an oxymoron?). Director Peter Howitt (or editor Robin Sales) cut shots at just the right moment, allowing you to see the onset of an (usually disastrous) action somewhere in the background, but not showing the predictable result. It was also beautifully shot even making Rowan Atkinson look suave occasionally.

Some witty lines made me snigger once in a while, but on the whole there was a lot of painfully predictable comedy. To my surprise, Natalie Imbruglia was absolutely gorgeous to look at (I never really liked her before) and John Malkovich plays the baddy; a French business tycoon plotting to take over Britain by stealing the crown jewels and getting himself crowned as King… erm, OK, right. His French accent was laughable and annoyed me. Later I read a discussion about it on IMDB where someone commented that anyone who didn’t realize the accent was supposed to be bad completely missed the point. Hmmm… am I obtuse? In my defense I feel that the film itself wasn’t clever enough to employ such a ‘subtle’ joke, hence me missing it as a joke. Alternatively I could still be obtuse, of course .

All in all I expect more originality from comedies nowadays and Johnny English didn’t have that. Someone on IMDB commented that if this film had come out before Austin Powers or Naked Gun it might have been rated higher and I agree.

Trivia for the Brits out there: Director, Peter Howitt starred as Joey Boswell in the 80′s BBC sitcom Bread. He also directed and co-wrote Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Pitbull.

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