The Search for John Gissing (2001)

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 | Tap Dancing | Nun | Urination | Money

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)

3 stars

In this film, Mike Binder (who also directed) is an American businessman named Matthew Barnes who just arrived in London with his wife (played by Janeane Garofalo), where Matthew is supposed to take over the final negotiations for a big merger with a German firm. Unfortunately, all of the arrangements were made by John Gissing (Alan Rickman), who feels passed over for the job and sabotages Matthew at every turn. Another key character is their boss, Francois (played by Allan Corduner, who played Sullivan in "Topsy-Turvy").

All of the characters are interesting, as is the direction and editing (which features lots of jump cuts). All in all I was pleasantly surprised given the poor review I had read in the local newspaper. Seen at Cinequest (the San Jose, CA film festival), where it was the opening night film on 2/21/2002.