Foley Artist

The Wrong Guy (1997) was for Ms. Spenser - she's a big Kids in the Hall fan. If you don't like the Kids, and especially Dave Foley, you might want to skip this, because he is in almost every frame.

He plays a nebbishy executive who thinks he's going to be promoted to president, mainly because he is engaged to the current president's daughter. When he is passed over (someone else is engaged to the daughter the president likes better), he flips out and threatens to kill the president. Then a super-assassin sneaks in and kills the president, just before he storms into the office. When he comes out holding the knife, all covered in gore, it looks like he will be taking the blame!

Except not - because there was a security camera in the office and it's all on tape. The police completely ignore Foley and go after the real killer (Colm Feore). But since both guys are heading to Mexico, they keep crossing paths.

The cops chasing them are lead by fat and corrupt David Anthony Higgins (Higgins Boys and Gruber), who co-wrote with Foley. He keeps staking out strip clubs and expensive restaurants to run up the expense account. I didn't like this bit much until I realized how unrealistic it was - the movie's tone is carefully calibrated between realism and slapstick fantasy, and he was a reminder of the unreality of it all.

Foley eventually gets picked up by Jennifer Tilly, a shy girl who sometimes falls asleep at the wheel, due to narcolepsy. Her dad is Joe Flaherty (SCTV), a banker being driven out of business by the rapacious farmers of the town. He is one of my favorite things about the movie - showing off the renovations the bank made in the 70s, taking out the inkwells and putting in pens on chains. Never could get comfortable in the new chair, though.

The thing this movie does best is find the right tone. Foley is smug, dense, self-deluded, clumsy in the exact right proportions. The people around him are normal, but equally clueless, in the exact right measure. Plus, it's got some cute Hitchcock references. This kind of flew under the radar, so if you haven't heard of it, you may want to check it out.