The Wrong Guy

MOVIE REVIEW OF The Wrong Guy (1997) PG-13

Cast
Director:	David Steinberg	Runtime: 1hrs 32min ( 92min)
nelson hibbert	.....	dave foley
detective arlen	.....	david anthony higgins
lynn holden	.....	jennifer tilly
fred holden	.....	joe flaherty
ken daly	.....	dan redican
farmer brown	.....	alan scarfe
mr. nagel	.....	kenneth welsh
creepy guy	.....	enrico colantoni
the killer	.....	colm feore
bus station worker	.....	arnie achtman
gas station guy	.....	boyd banks
cindy	.....	johanna black
manicurist	.....	valerie boyce
juddidam	.....	alan bridle
nagel's secretary	.....	dana brooks
engineer	.....	martin brown
jimmy	.....	richard chevolleau
oklahoma cop	.....	jeff clarke
dr. harris	.....	gina clayton
policeman #1	.....	steven page
policeman #2	.....	tyler stewart
policeman #3	.....	ed robertson
policeman #4	.....	jim creeggan
policeman #5	.....	kevin hearn
texas cop	.....	glenn cross
small town man #1	.....	jack jessop
small town man #2	.....	bruce deller
missouri cop	.....	don dickinson
maitre'd	.....	reg dreger
office worker #1	.....	chantal quesnelle
office worker #2	.....	david farant
office worker #3	.....	glenda rush
crime show host	.....	barry flatman
indiana policeman	.....	calvin green
man in elevator	.....	don kelly
bus driver	.....	jay kogen
miss crystal ball	.....	carmelina lamanna
denise	.....	lindsay leese
gavin	.....	william lynn
anchorwoman	.....	arlene mazerolle
captain hughes	.....	robin mcCulloch
motel manager	.....	kevin mcDonald
federal officer	.....	bruce mcFee
teamster	.....	gerry menicino
cleveland detective	.....	steve michalchuk
french restaurant waiter	.....	carlo rota
policeman at gas station	.....	hadley sandiford
quartet bus driver	.....	guy sanvido
security guard	.....	ralph small
outpatient	.....	david steinberg
constance nagel	.....	haley tyson
wallace	.....	mike wilmot

PLOT SUMMARY

Nelson Hibbert (Dave Foley), Vice-President of Requisitions and Non-Human Resources for Nagel Industries in Cleveland, is on his way up the corporate ladder...in fact, he is sure he has the title of President in the bag. Besides, he's engaged to the current President Nagel's (Kenneth Welsh) daughter.

But when the position is given to someone else, Nelson is outraged and threatens, in a roundabout way, to kill Nagel by announcing, "you are dead to me."

As luck(?) would have it, at 10:37 a.m., Nagel gets stabbed in the back of the neck. At 10:38 a.m. Nelson finds the body, grabs the knife, and runs out of the building in a panic. Thinking he is the prime suspect, he takes course to head to Mexico.

Meanwhile, back in Cleveland, the authorities have confirmed via videotape that someone else actually committed the murder.

Through a series of events, the real killer (Colm Feore) gets the impression that Nelson is actually a kind of super-cop, who is following him. In reality, the killer is being followed, but by the police, headed by Detective Arlen (David Anthony Higgins) of the Cleveland PD, who is taking advantage of his unlimited resources.

Nelson finds himself in the tiny farm town of Metcalf, Missouri, where he meets a narcoleptic girl named Lynn (Jennifer Tilly) and her father (Joe Flaherty).

Another round of misadventures bring all the significant players together for a final, albeit mild, shootout (?).

TECH INSPECTION

As far as the public success of this movie, it was rather drab in Canada in both video and DVD format, and it was never released theatrically in the U.S. In my opinion, that is a real disappointment; for the following reasons...

I love movie/television/book references, and this movie has more than one. For instance, can you guess which classic movie this monologue references?

This newspaper's owned by Farmer Brown. He's been trying to shut us down for years. Edgar, your father got the money for that house you're livin' in from the bank. Jacob, you remember when you needed money to start that men's jewelry store?...Well, you didn't get it from Brown, you got it from us. Yeah, I had to foreclose on ya', but...well, it wasn't a good idea, was it? Everybody look, the money from this bank is in that town.

Have you seen It's a Wonderful Life yet this year? Skip to the part where George saves the B & L using his honeymoon money.

There is also a short allusion to Al Pacino in Scarface (except that here, handguns are used instead of fully automatic assault weapons), as well as Nelson using a voice that is what I took as an imitation of Steve Martin using one of his funny voices.

And if you don't spot those, you certainly can't miss the classic Wile E. Coyote ACME fake hole gag at the beginning.

This is a rehash of the theme of mistaken identity, but with several varieties of twist. This makes for a relatively new idea.

Anyone who remembers Dave Foley from The Kids in the Hall or NewsRadio will know that he can be hilarious as a straight man. In The Wrong Guy, though, you can see that he is equally as funny playing a paranoid, hyperactive spaz.

The other characters have their own unique querks that just add to the humor of the movie, written by Foley and David Anthony Higgins (Detective Arlen). For example, Lynn is a narcoleptic who inconveniently has her spells while behind the wheel of an automobile!

Whereas many of the one-liners are hilarious, most of them would not survive without the accompanying facial expressions and reactions. Physical comedy rivals the spoken jokes throughout the movie.

This is further testimony to my hypothesis that foreign actors and movies are often of higher quality than those from the U.S. (at least for the past 50 years).

There's not much more to be said to further the technical evaluation of this film, so just see it for yourself and hopefully you will get up with a smile on your face and a happy mood in your mind.

QUOTES
Finally, a short list of quotes I think are worth repeating. You may recognize some, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:

• Nelson : Morning...Big day today...Hey, fellas, today's the big day, huh? G'morning...Morning...Top o' the morning, m'lady. Good morning, big day, huh? Morning. Good morning, Cindy.
  Cindy : Morning mister...
  Nelson : Hibbert. Today's a big day for me.
  Cindy : Really? Ah, good for you.
  Nelson : All set for the big day? Hi! Today's the day. Hey fellas, how 'bout that game last night?
  Water Cooler Guy #1 : What game?
  Water Cooler Guy #2 : There was no game last night.
  Nelson : Gotta go...Hey there. Morning to you. Good morning. Hey, how's it goin'? Morning, folks. Good morning, Denise.
  Denise : Good morning, Mister Hibbert.
• Nelson : Hi. How far will...36 dollars get me?
  Bus Station Clerk : You're there.
• Nelson : Lynn, this may get dangerous. You may want to get two teabags and a sheet of wax paper.
• Lynn : Did I have one of my spells again?
  Nelson : Yes, you did. But those of us who chose to wear seatbelts are fine.
• Killer : You're awake!
  Nelson : Yeah. For awhile now.
  Killer : I've been carrying you!
  Nelson : I thought you wanted to.
• Arlen : There has to be some way out of this.
  Killer : What do you suggest?
  Arlen : Give yourself up?
  Killer : How does that help me?
  Arlen : I don't know.

RATING

Here is my personal rating of this movie. This rating is out of ten meows.
⁹ /₁₀

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