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So I Married an Axe Murderer (PG-13)
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This came out in 1993, and I'm sure I first saw it sometime in the 90s (probably on TV, but I'm not positive it wasn't VHS). At the time, I was already a fan of the leads, Mike Myers and Nancy Travis, but I think I wasn't wild about this movie, back then. But it's something that I've wanted to see again, and I finally did get it on DVD in 2017, and I liked it more than I remembered. Although I'm not sure how much that's because of the movie itself, or because when I watched it this time, I recognized some aspects of Myers' humor that would work better in his later films, particularly the Austin Powers movies. But this movie was okay, I guess. (I'm glad I didn't really remember any details of the plot, just the basic premise, because it allowed me to be surprised in the end.)

Anyway, Myers plays a beat poet named Charlie MacKenzie. (I find it kind of shocking that he can apparently make a living with his poetry, which really isn't that good, but whatevs.) He has a tendency to break up with women for ridiculous reasons, which his cop friend Tony (Anthony LaPaglia) calls him out on. Then one day, Charlie meets a butcher named Harriet (Travis), and they soon begin dating. Charlie also spends a lot of time with his (very Scottish) parents, May and Stuart. (Myers plays Stuart.) May shows him an article in a tabloid about an axe murderer called Mrs. X, who had killed three of her husbands. Charlie doesn't take it seriously, but eventually he realizes that Harriet's past seems to fit several details of the story about Mrs. X, so he becomes paranoid. And after awhile, he breaks up with her. But later he regrets that, and gets back together with her. And at his parents' 30th anniversary party, he proposes to her. So, they get married, and go on their honeymoon. Then Tony learns something that suggests Harriet may be Mrs. X, after all. And... I don't want to spoil how it ends.

Anyway, again I'll say that this movie is sort of best appreciated as a precursor to Myers's later work. But it's still fun, in its own right, even if some bits aren't necessarily what I'd call "good." I do think most of it was decent. And there are some other good actors, including Amanda Plummer in an important role, as Harriet's sister, Rose. And Alan Arkin was pretty great as Tony's boss. And there are cameos by other people who were familiar to me, including Charles Grodin, Phil Hartman, Debi Mazar, Steven Wright, Michael Richards, and Greg Germann. (Some of them I must have known before I saw this the first time, and some only became familiar with later.) Anyway, I dunno what else to say. But as silly as it all is, I'm really glad to have seen it again. And it's definitely something I wouldn't mind watching a third time, someday.


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