The Search for John Gissing (2001)

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. He's to replace John Gissing; Gissing's gotten ... See full summary »

Director:

Mike Binder

Writer:

Mike Binder

Stars:

Mike Binder, Tim Briggs, Allan Corduner

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

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. He's to replace John Gissing; Gissing's gotten wind of it, and he makes sure that Matthew and his wife Linda, who has dutifully but reluctantly come to England, have a miserable first few days there. By the time Matthew figures out what's happening and declares a counter offensive, it may be too late to save himself from a transfer to Detroit. With Gissing still holding lots of cards and Linda more unhappy by the moment, Matthew must reevaluate. All out war? A partnership with Gissing? Some third way?

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Plot Keywords:

merger | self preservation | nipple | urine | husband wife relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Sunlight Productions [us]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

The City

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dyno-B Films, Sunlight Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

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.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

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.