The Wrong Guy (1997)

Ok kids, it's Kids in the Hall fandom time. (Aka the BEST time.) I love all these guys, but my favorite Kid has always been Dave Foley. Naturally in high school I got my hands on his solo writing/starring/producing venture The Wrong Guy, even though I had to order it from far-away Canada! Since then I've probably seen it too many times, but it still makes me giggle a whole lot. The plot concerns the laughable trials of Nelson Hibbert (Foley), an overdramatic but harmless businessman who's shocked to learn he didn't receive an expected promotion, despite being engaged to the boss's daughter (just not his favorite daughter).

He threatens to kill his boss, only to walk in on him some time later sitting in his office with a knife in his neck. Unaware of the security cameras that caught the real killer, Nelson assumes everyone thinks he's the murderer, and immediately attempts to flee to Mexico through various road trip means (bus, train, hitchhiking). Coincidentally, the actual killer is following along the same path, and becomes convinced that Nelson is some sort of super secret agent tracking him. Hilarity ensues, etc.

This is definitely one of the sillier, dumber comedies that I love, but it just does silly and dumb so well! The script is laced with ridiculous visual gags, nonsensical running jokes, and over the top characters, and the story takes several digs at established road/chase movie conventions. The cast is great, with Jennifer Tilly as a slightly narcoleptic love interest, Joe Flaherty as a poor small-town banker overrun by greedy farmers, and Colm Feore as the acrobatic assassin. KITH alum Kevin MacDonald even shows up as a hotel manager! And allegedly Mark McKinney is in there somewhere, possibly as an old guy at the end, but I cannot confirm this. Of course, it's really Foley's show here. He expertly works that boyish charm, dry humor, and tendency to look like a woman into a funny and endearing performance.

The Wrong Guy is the kind of movie that comes off as fairly intelligent despite is silliness because everyone is clearly in on the joke. It's a lot of fun and never fails to make me laugh. For me the biggest problem is that I've seen it too many times, and some of the jokes do get old (I remember the corrupt/inept cop suplot being funnier the first few viewings). But this time around I was still cracking up at certain moments (that one shot of Nelson with the ham gets me every time, as does the checking into the hotel scene), and smiling very pleasantly for the rest. It helps that I'm in love with weird Kids in the Hall-style surreal humor, but I'm pretty sure this movie is funny to other people, too, right?

4/5

Further Reading:
Flick Chick review