Brian Stimpson is the stringently punctual and efficient headmaster of a British comprehensive school. He runs his school so well that today, he is scheduled to speak as the newly appointed Chairman of the Headmasters' Conference in Norwich - an honor usually reserved for those from posh schools like Eton. Before leaving to catch the 10:25 a.m. train for his 163 mile jaunt to Norwich, he multi-tasks in his office, practicing his speech while sorting out a staff scheduling mix-up while watching the school grounds through binoculars, letting no student mischief escape his notice and reprimand. After giving a stirring assembly speech to his students, he is on his way.
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His wife drives him to the station on time, but scolds him for not taking her. He gets onto the wrong train. As the right train pulls away, he runs after it, and the other train leaves with his speech notes. Unable to catch his wife, he takes a cab home, only to find her and his car gone. Hailing another cab, he slams into the hood of a car driven by one of his students, Laura, and enlists her to drive him to Norwich. As he fuels the car, he fails to notice his wife seeing him with Laura and getting the wrong impression. He forgets to pay for the gas. Laura's worried parents hit the road to find her. So does her boyfriend - a married member of Stimpson's staff. Stimpson's mental reconstruction of his speech is wrecked by distractions. Learning Laura hasn't passed her driving test, he sensibly takes the wheel - and slams into a police car.
Can things get worse? Yes. His attempts to phone the conference to say he'll be late are foiled by un-cooperative pay phones. He runs out of money. He is mistaken for a vandal and a kidnapper; delayed and driven off-course by an increasingly resentful ex-girlfriend; trapped between a truck and a herd of cattle; lost in a field; and spattered with mud as he tries to push the car out of a rut. As he cleans up at a monastery, his ex drives away, stranding him, suit-less and car-less, on the side of the road with Laura. Laura manages to hitch a ride and to steal for him the driver's car and suit; but his plan to arrive by 3:00 p.m. is shot, and his prospects of at least arriving by 5:00 in time for his speech look dim. Conference members, wondering where he is, form ever-worsening opinions of him as his wife and the others chasing him show up uninvited.
The review of this Movie prepared by vjm
