The Search for John Gissing (2001)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Mike Binder

Writer:

Mike Binder (writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Matthew Barnes is a young exec on the move up who finds himself a pawn in corporate in-fighting when he's sent to London to oversee a merger...

Plot Keywords:

Merger | London | Brother | Chair | Pregnant

Cast

Mike Binder	...	Matthew Barnes
Tim Briggs	...	Hotel Clerk
Allan Corduner	...	Francois Fuller
Janeane Garofalo	...	Linda Barnes
Frank Harper	...	Dexter
Caroline Holdaway	...	Gissing's Secretary
James Lance	...	Donny the Janitor
Lee Oakes	...	Cousin Carl Gissing
Angela Pleasence	...	Johanna Frielduct
Alan Rickman	...	John Gissing
Juliet Stevenson	...	Gwenyth Moore
Owen Teale	...	Giles Hanagan
Nigel Terry	...	Alan Jardeen
Sonya Walger	...	Sister Mary
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Reid	...	Man Who Wants to be a Woman (as Dave Reid)

Runtime:

91 min (AFI Film Festival)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Greentrees Films

Quotes:

[first lines]
Matthew Barnes: The fact that we weren't met at Heathrow was frustrating, I can't deny that. But when you work for one of these international conglomerates like I do you kind of expect that every now and then there'll be a paper jam that takes your life along with it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Creating 'The Upside of Anger' (2005) (V)

Don't understand why this isn't in general release

I sought this out first and foremost for Alan Rickman, and I wasn't disappointed. He gets so few opportunities to play comedy and that's really a crime. At one point I literally spit across the room from laughing so hard (fortunately wasn't eating at the time). Janeane is her standard delightfully sarcastic self, though tragically underused. This seems to be all about Mike Binder playing Woody Allen (I'm really not that into either actor). Some scenes are obviously only a setup to one key line for him to say. The jump cuts mentioned earlier I thought at first were an artistic attempt, but eventually get very, very annoying.

The DVD has an impressive amount of extras for being privately released, no complaints there. The supporting actors were all very good, but really the only reason to see this is for Mr. Rickman's performance. This has easily shot to the top three in my collection of his films.