The Englishman Who Went up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain

PG	Rottentomatoes.com Rating: 55%	1995
(Mild sensuality, brief language)	Picky Flicks Quote: "An appealing bit of bucolic whimsy that harks back to the virtues of Britain's postwar golden age of cinema." -Hal Hinson, Washington Post	RUNTIME: 91 mins.
Visit:www.screenit.com for complete details		Movie Mood: Whimsical

How they ever convinced the “money” at the studio to okay the title, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain (say that five times fast), I’ll never fathom, but outside of leaving you a little breathless, it certainly isn’t a drawback to a thoroughly charming, quirky little gem of a movie. Englishman (did you really think I was going to type that entire title every time I mentioned it?) features Hugh Grant at the height of his floppy-haired, stuttering, “Ah, gawsh”-ness as the titular Brit who does, indeed, go up a hill and come down a mountain.

How, you say?

Well, here’s the deal: Ffynnon Garw (pronounced “Fernon Gahroo” by the locals) is a tiny Welsh village whose claim to fame is being situated at the base of Wale's first ever mountain. Or so it seems until a fat, stuffy Englishman and his thin, painfully shy (equally English) assistant (Grant) come bumbling in to crush their spirits. They're cartographers you see (and no, that's not the official name for those guys in orange shirts in the Walmart parking lot), which means they make maps for the queen, you see, and to make sure that everything is legitimate and correct, they have descended upon this rural hamlet to measure the historical mountain in question. Yes, I know. If a mountain’s truly a mountain, does it really need measuring? Well, maybe not usually, but this one’s a bit of a runt, and these things really must be done properly, after all.

The townspeople throw a fit when quiet, unassuming Ansen's measurements show the “mountain”—the pride and joy of those who live in its miniscule shade—to be fifteen feet short of the height requred to be denoted as such on one of Her Majesty’s maps. Secretive town meetings are called during which the residents begin to take the whole "mountain out of a molehill" bit a mite literally. Even opportunistic, self-interested tavern-owner, Morgan the Goat (Colm Meaney, as entertaining as ever), catches a little of the town-pride fever.

Less resourceful folks might throw up their hands in despair and say, “What’s to be done?” But not the good people of Ffynnon Garw. For them, there is only one course of action: transform a hill into a mountain in as little time as possible and get good old Ansen to measure again.

The problem, of course, is Ansen’s boss, who is appalled by the town’s primitive accommodations and can’t wait to get the heck out of…um…Ffynnon Garw (yeah, I don’t know why they didn’t use that instead of Dodge, either). In order to get him to hang around long enough for them to tweak their peak (wheelbarrows, dirt, ridiculously stubborn, resourceful, and slightly crazy Welshmen/women…check!), some unlikely characters must cooperate in ways they never dreamed possible. The easily offended and overly righteous Reverend Jones must team up with the raucous, amoral Morgan the Goat, who must then give his main squeeze, Elizabeth (Tara Fitzgerald), the go-ahead to seduce Ansen so he has a reason to stay. And then, there’s Johnny, a virtually mute, shell-shocked product of the war who hasn’t been worth a flip since he returned from action. Can this hodgepodge of characters manage to bamboozle the two Englishmen into sticking around? (See title for answer).

Ansen finds the locals all very delightful, to be sure, and wouldn’t mind hanging around a little longer (especially once Miss Eleesabeth starts working her magic), but his boss is another matter, which is where the “booze” of “bamboozled” comes into play. There is something quite amusing about watching a formerly straight-laced Englishman get his laces loosened by liquor.

Englishman is ultimately little more than a sweet trifle, a uniquely pleasant glimpse at the strange bonds that will form in the face of adversity of even the most unexpected kind. It has a dash of romance, a smidge of inspiration, a dollop of comedy, and a healthy helping of silliness. And the end result is not bad. Not bad at all.

Until next Wednesday, stay picky! Your mind with thank you later.