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This charming movie, however, Myers' fourth film outing, shows a subdued and sweet actor finding his way among a dozen equally-talented, incredible comedic actors. Other reviewers have focused on Myers' portrayal of the racy Scottish father, but to me that's just another example of him chewing up scenery like it was chocolate-covered graham crackers. Instead, take some time to watch him interact with Amanda Plummer or Anthony LaPaglia, his underappreciated costars. He is quiet, charming, vulnerable and funny, without being obnoxious.
The story is about Charlie McKenzie, a beat poet in San Francisco who has a history of dumping women for stupid reasons ("She smelled like soup...beef vegetable soup..." He meets Harriet, a lady butcher, with whom he falls in love. But wait! Is it possible she's the murderous Mrs. X, who marries men and kills them on their honeymoons? Charlie thinks so, and the ride is on from there.
Pay special attention to the hysterical interplay between Alan Arkin and LaPaglia who play a police captain and undercover detective, respectively. Also watch for the uncredited costar, the city of San Francisco, which is shot more beautifully here than I've seen in any other film.
This DVD deserves a lot of extras, commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes, etc. With a stunning cast like this one, there must be treasures moldering in a vault somewhere, but you'll find none of them here. Aside from a soundtrack in Portuguese (? ) and subtitles in Korean, Thai and a host of other languages, you'll find none of that here.
... Read more ›How can you go wrong with a killer cast like this one? First off, you've got Anthony LaPaglia who rarely does comedies and is just great as a frustrated cop who feels more like Fish from Barney Miller than Serpico; there's the kooky Amander Plummer playing yet another bizarro role (does she play any other kind?); the great Brenda Fricker as Charlie's very Scottish mom (another casting against type); and a whole slew of cameos ranging from Charles Grodin and Alan Arkin to Steven Wright and Phil Hartman.
What makes this film so good is the insanely quotable dialogue. Pretty much anything Myers says as his dad is classic ("HEAD! PANTS! NOW!") and the film really hits a groove when he's on-screen. There are a couple moments when you can see LaPaglia actually breaking character as he cracks up over Myers' Scottish rantings about the Pentavert! And then you've got Myers' dead-on homage/parody of Jack Kerouac-style Beat poetry that is so well done -- especially if you're familiar with his style of prose and the way he speaks it.
I really hope that some day soon Myers revisits this movie with a lavish special edition DVD treatment it so richly deserves.
... Read more ›