by Kenn Rodriguez
Daily Lobo
If you remember "The Kids in the Hall," you know the name Dave Foley.
Of the five Kids, Foley was the short one. The one who could look child-like and devilish at the same time. The one - dare I say - who looked great in a dress.
If you're a fan of the "Kids" or of Foley's work in the sitcom "Newsradio," then you know that anytime Foley spends a good portion of his time in a suit or a dress, he's gonna be churning out some fine comedy.
The movie "The Wrong Guy" is no exception.
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In fact, it was Foley, standing on the video cover in a suit standing against a police line-up background that caught my attention as my girlfriend and I walked through the Hasting's Books Music and Video on San Pedro and Lomas.
The movie, which co-stars Jennifer Tilly, was originally released in 1997, at the height of Foley's TV run on "Newsradio." But it never made it into American theaters. Instead it was banished straight-to-video limbo. A harsh fate for a smart comedy this good.
Foley plays Nelson Hibbert, a nebbish, narcissistic Cleveland business exec who freaks out after being passed over for a promotion - a promotion only he thinks he will get.
Following his boardroom meltdown, he goes to confront his back-stabbing boss, only to find him dead, ironically stabbed in the back. Nelson panics and not only handles the murder weapon, but manages to get a ridiculous amount of blood all over himself and his suit.
Thinking he'll be taken for a murderer, Nelson flees the city. But the police already have a video of the murder and the murderer. This sets up the dynamic of the incompetent Nelson running from the police. An added bonus comes from the murderer's coincidental run-ins with Nelson, after which he decides that Nelson is a "supercop" following him.
Nelson, who is running to Mexico, ends up in Missouri where he runs into Tilly, who plays a small-town cutie with narcolepsy. There he falls in love with Tilly's character and helps her and her father thwart the local big-time farmer from taking over the bank - a wry role reversal that may go over most people's heads.
Director David Steinberg manages to set up the jokes well early on. Visually, he pays tribute to Hitchcock, giving the movie a faux-thriller feel that facilitate the jokes very well. Steinberg also plays a bit with a "Fugitive" type feel at times.
Foley co-wrote the screenplay with David Anthony Higgins, who wrote for and starred on "Ellen," and with Jay Kogen, a former writer with the National Lampoon and "The Simpsons."
Foley plays Nelson as the fool - way beyond reason at times. But this comedy - dark and edgy at times, pure slapstick at others - is worth the suspension of disbelief. The film captures the feel of many a "Kids" skit. Normally TV skits as scenes in movies flop - see almost any movie inspired by "SNL" - but here it works.
The movie works better during its first three-quarters when Nelson thinks he's a killer on the lamb. At times the laughs were so good, I was almost in a fetal position. The last half-hour of the movie drags as Steinberg tries to fit the movie into a standard Hollywood ending. Despite this, the end still has enough laughs to leave you chuckling.
"The Wrong Guy" isn't a comedy classic, but it makes for a good evening. The movie is rated PG-13 and is distributed by Buena Vista Home Video. You can find "The Wrong Guy" on VHS and DVD at Hastings' Books, Music and Videos and on VHS at Hollywood Video.
