In Venice, gangster Scarpa is expecting an assassination attempt but he doesn't know that it's hit-man Mike Lawton (Bryan Brown). Melvyn Orton (Dudley Moore) is in town to check out properties for his boss. Real estate agent Caroline Wright (Patsy Kensit) is looking unload a dud quickly for triple the commission. Maurice Horton (Richard Griffiths) is looking to find an arranged date with Patricia Fulford. Major screw-ups by the bumbling bellboy (Bronson Pinchot) send the wrong messages to the various hotel clients. Horton is sent to Caroline Wright expecting a date. Orton is sent to Scarpa expecting to buy the property. Lawton is sent to Fulford expecting to kill her.Writer/director Mark Herman misses the mark on this one. Bronson Pinchot's broad comedic performance is very distracting. The three misunderstandings come with a few chuckles. Patsy Kensit and Richard Griffiths are probably the closest to being funny. They are a little bit of sitcom and is almost comical. The other two stories are nowhere near funny. They turn into a lot of running around. After Patsy and Richard have done the deed, even that falls flat. It's a lot of misunderstanding without the comedy.

Seriously, who greenlighted this? Or is it lit...? Anyway, this being the first thing by Herman I've watched, and me basically not being familiar with anyone in this except for Brown(and hearing that Moore is considered a talent, R.I.P.), I don't know whose fault it is that this is pure crap. But it is. And I'll tell you why: For all of my looking, I could not find a single, genuine joke in this. No, I'm not saying that they were all poor; I'm saying, such does not exist in this. This did not even get a smile out of me, and I can be an easy audience. The entire thing is based upon the mix-up of three names, and this confusion is maintained purely because these people are morons that don't behave in any kind of realistic way(yes, I know it's a farce; I say that they don't get away with it if they're not making us laugh), leading to predictable gags and ridiculous misunderstandings. Acting is decent. At least it moves fast; too much so, in fact. Zero character development(what seems like it might be is thrown out for cheap attempts at comedy), and essentially, the entire flick is absolutely nothing other than a series of connected occurrences, each straining credulity more than those that came before it. No point, no themes, nothing. Don't you need, you know, content? It is interesting... no... no, that's, that's not the word... terrifying, that's it... that there are actually people who find stupid stereotypes, painfully done, as well as torture, *funny*. There is plenty of disturbing content and mild/hinted violence, a little moderate language and brief sexuality(not graphic) in this. I recommend this to... those who actually think the above sounds appealing. 1/10

Surprisingly, this movie was not quite as godawful as I imagined it would be. But it's still pretty bad, the whole farce is based on a one-joke concept and everything in the movie is wrapped in predictability. Avoid.

Why did this receive such a low rating? This is a delightfully funny farce that had me on the floor. It's so hilarious! It goes through with its intention of being a fast-paced, old-fashioned farce mixed with the good ol' comedy of errors. The cast is superb. I only wish Dudley Moore could've been given a funnier part - this is definitely one of his more thankless roles. Unfortunately, this was one of his last roles, if not the last. But he was still an incredible comic actor and he will surely be missed. Richard Griffiths, who I remember as the cripple in "Naked Gun 2 1/2," is extremely funny. Bryan Brown plays it straight as a bewildered hitman, and does a fantastic job. I also liked that woman who played his eventual love interest - she has some very funny scenes. And man-oh-man is Patsy Kensit a hottie or what?!!!The script is contrived and most of the gags are forced, but I give the writer/director an "E" for effort. It's hard to pull off a wacky farce like this with great precision. It was done excellently in "Ruthless People," but not every farce can be like "Ruthless People." I said it before and I'll say it again, the sense of humor don't lie. If I'm roaring with laughter, obviously the film did its job. And I was roaring all right! My score: 7 (out of 10)