Customer Reviews

The Wrong Guy

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This has got to be one of the funniest, most under-rated comedies ever (next to Office Space). If you were a big fan of the David Foley sketches in Kids In The Hall, or even if you're a fan of irreverant comedy like Montey Python, you'll get a kick out of Wrong Guy. It's one of those comedies where you'll be at work one day and remember a scene or a line, and just spontaneously burst out laughing.

The Wrong Guy has been available on VHS for rental in Canada for about 5 years now, and has gone virtually unnoticed in North American film press. According to David Foley, after the movie was made it just sort of fell through the cracks -- Handmade Studios temporarily went out of business, and distributer Buena Vista just decided to shelve it indefinitely, for no particular reason. It's amazing that this movie is only now finding its way to US DVD release -- if it were released theatrically today, with some decent advertising it would probably garner the same acclaim as Something About Mary.

Parent-company Disney (the same ... who apparently thought Snow Dogs and Country Bears were worthy theatrical releases) don't know good films from their collective ... They probably figured that this Canadian film didn't feature enough dogs, or people getting bonked on the head, or stereo-typical bad guys getting outsmarted by little kids, or any other tried-and-true money-making clichés aimed at the dumbest of viewers, to justify the cost of marketing it.

But I digress. See this movie, it will put a grin on your face.

This movie is excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting something different than the predictable hollywood sludge being produced these days. It's well written, acted and produced. So simple, yet so hilariously genius!!

I just rented this movie, having no idea what it was like, other than it had Dave Foley in it. My wife and I loved it. If you look at the reviews, it's obvious this is a love it or hate it movie. You either get it or you don't. I did, and I loved it.

I really like this movie, it is often very funny, a really wacky film. Too bad Dave Foley didn't get the chance to keep making films, he shows great potential here and I wish he could have built up some momentum with it.

But about the DVD: There is a Lion's Gate Home Entertainment edition that includes a very good commentary by Dave Foley with the directory and producer. This edition is in full frame though. The colours are dull and washed out too. You can identify it by the cover picture of Foley in a police lineup with four other guys. I believe that this is the Canadian edition.

The other edition, which I understand is the American one and is put out by Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment looks great. It's sharp, bright and in widescreen (1.85:1), which seems to be the intended aspect ratio. There's no commentary though which is a shame. This one has a picture of Foley alone on the cover.

Which one should you choose? If you really like Dave Foley, Kids in the Hall or any Canadian comedy shows for that matter, like Four on the Floor (Dan Redican appears) or SCTV (Joe Flaherty appears) get both copies and make your own complete two-disc set. That's what I did.

Comedy is predicated on its ability to be unpredictable, and THE WRONG GUY is largely the victim of easily guessed jokes waiting for you just around the corner. Still, Dave Foley and Jennifer Tilly manage to charm this one-and-one-half hour with enough harmless chuckles that make it worth a single viewing.

Foley stars as Nelson Hippert (or was that Hibbert?), who -- after losing a promotion to CEO of his future father-in-law's company -- inadvertantly believes he's a wanted fugitive, on the lamb, for murder. Once the opening schtick is over with, the story finds a better pace in the capable comedic talents of his new-found true love (Tilly) and her savings-and-loan operator father (the vastly underrated Joe Flaherty of SCTV fame). There are also a handful of great bits surrounding the small-town cops finally given federal funding to assist in the search for the real killer, but don't look for any breakout performances here.

A welcome diversion, THE WRONG GUY won't be a wrong choice.

I gave this movie top rating for two reasons: Colm Feore and David Anthony Higgins.

Foley is cute though not consistently funny (some of his material felt a bit forced to me, ) however, there were many laugh-out-loud scenes that nearly had me strangled ( feeding on forest food, jumping the train, getting water at the filling station, ALL interactions with the Killer, and many more..) His fugitive flight puts him into contact with several off-key characters, and the poor guy keeps running into one piece of bad luck or bad timing again and again. For the life of me I kept thinking, " That's exactly MY luck.." ( mine and all the OTHER "ordinary guys" out there...) Joe Flaherty's character of the bank owner shares the same fate as George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (with slight comic variations,) and Jennifer Tilley is adorable and alluring as ever as Foley's narcoleptic girlfriend.

Higgins' romp through the states using the FBI's "unlimited resources" is hilarious. ( If the name does not ring a bell, you may remember him from the old "Ellen" show - he worked at the book store's coffee shop, Cup-a-Joe's, and served more comic relief than lattes.) He tracks his fugitive through some of the country's best restaurants, strip clubs and Musical revues, ( ! ) while maintaining the integrity of his investigation.

The real scene stealer though is Colm. His Killer is brilliant. I loved the constant wardrobe changes( best scene? the surgeon ) and the magical coincidences that kept bringing him into contact with Foley. His Killer is single-minded, militant in his mission, and seemingly superhuman, ( some of the Killer's escapes are very John Woo, but...soooo funny ) It is hard to explain but there is a humor about this character that is hard to ignore and impossible not to love.. The best moments in the movie belong to Colm and his straight-faced delivery of some of its funniest lines...( after all the Killer puts himself through it is wonderfully ironic to hear him whine at the end " I fell on my keys!) There are dozens of scenes that I would love to talk about but I don't want to ruin the laughs for those who have not seen the flick.

I can't guarantee that everyone will find this movie as entertaining as some, but I CAN bet that if you buy it you will not feel badly that you did.

Best regards...

This movie is possibly Dave Foley at his finest. It's comedy that can be appreciated by anyone

I've seen it 3 times already, and found it just as funny the 3rd time as I did the 1st.

I remember seeing this movie years ago, and it always stuck in my head to find it on DVD someday. So logically, my brain must've thought it was funny. Not constant drop dead busting-a- gut funny, but stupid smart funny. It has brilliant moments in hilarity. Its worth the price, just buy it OK?

I've been waiting to see this movie ever since I saw Dave Foley promoting it on Conan O'Brien and it's well worth the wait. In my opinion, this movie is less like a Hitchcock film and more like the great Buster Keaton chase comedies. The timing is perfect, Dave Foley's facial expressions are priceless and the dialogue is hilarious. There are a lot of repeated permutations on the "wrongly accused" storyline, and this movie takes probably the only one that hasn't been used yet (to my knowledge) and does a great job playing on the audience's expectations. On my first viewing I noticed that a lot of the great gags were "reveal gags", like the car alarms and the ham, which reminded me of the type of reveal gags used on The Simpsons (the three vase/closet gag in the Hugo episode is still one of my favorites). I was pleased to read that one of the writers was Jay Kogen. Jay, if you're not writing on The Simpsons any more, they need you badly. If you are, show some of those new guys how things are done. Anyway, buy/rent/share this movie, it's great.