So I Married an Axe Murderer

I saw this film on cable not long after its release and remember enjoying it. But like most films, it didn't leave a lasting impression. For some reason I have had a DVD copy of the film in my collection for some time now, probably a b-day gift or some such, and I never watch it…Last night, sixteen years after it first appeared, I watched it again.

Sometimes, a piece of art takes time and multiple exposures for its audience to fully appreciate its quality. This is definitely the case with this film. For me, a film should show me new characters or new settings or give me a new way of looking at a recognizable situation. So often films just give their audience the same tired stereotypical content; Characters that differ in name only from other films and plot lines that so closely follow previous successful productions that I'm surprised there aren't more lawsuits between artists. Such is not the case with "So I Married an Axe Murderer". With the tiny exception of the girlfriend of the chief supporting character, every role can accurately be described as unique. A butcher shop owner/operator (Nancy Travis) for a leading lady that may be wielding her cleaver in the off hours plus her curiously flighty sister (Amanda Plummer). A suburban San Francisco family of intensely Scottish decent that includes the youngest son with an enormous head and a Mother (Brenda Fricker) who has no qualms about French kissing her eldest son's best friend just to assure herself he's good at it. There's a light aircraft charter pilot (Steven Wright) that probably shouldn't have been awarded a license and a slightly embittered, slightly maniacal former Alcatraz guard/now tour guide (Phil Hartman) who makes me laugh just to look at him on screen. There's an undercover cop best friend (Anthony LaPaglia) that wanted to be Starsky or Hutch but instead learns the job really entails filling out a lot of forms and his boss (Alan Arkin) who, if it wasn't for Mike Myer's performance, would have stolen the movie with his portrayal of a Police Chief that can only be described as the antithesis of that character that we've seen so many times in films and TV.

About Mike Myers: Intensely likable. Free and easy on film at a young age he creates two wonderful characters that make us laugh hard throughout. As the lead Charlie McKenzie and as his father Stuart, Myers keeps the film moving with his paranoid yet irresistible charm from Charlie and his Robin Williamsesque quips that flow from his two characters accomplishing the most difficult task for such a performance; namely, entertain without distracting from the story.

I've added this film to my "Favorites" list and recommend it highly. If you liked "You Can't Take it With You" you'll love this more contemporary yet equally quirky film of love and family.

To most of us, Mike Myers is either Wayne Campbell or Austin Powers. So, it may come to some surprise that he played a somewhat different role in "So I Married an Axe Murderer". As San Francisco poet Charlie Mackenzie, who suspects that his girlfriend (Nancy Travis) may be a killer, he makes the most of his role. As it is, he not only plays Charlie, but also Charlie's Scottish immigrant father (he was probably priming himself to play multiple roles in the Austin Powers movies). Watching the movie, one may feel like writing some poetry.

There are some scenes in the movie that might tense you up. But, they know how to play these scenes so that everything comes out funny. After all, this is Mike Myers here. Anyway, it's not the funniest movie ever, but still worth seeing, if only once. Also starring Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer, Brenda Fricker, Matt Doherty, Charles Grodin, Phil Hartman, Debi Mazar, Steven Wright, and Michael Richards in a brief appearance.

Mike Myers gives Waynes World a rest and delivers what I think is a better movie.... well better than Waynes World 2 anyway. It is a truly great movie with Mike playing a duel role, firstly as Charlie MacKenzie a young guy who is scared of commitment to women, then his dad Stuart MacKenzie a very funny Scotsman who could take the lead role in X Files with his ideas on Conspiracy. Nancy Travis stars as a butcher... Harriet, who ends up with Charlie..... A great movie that is very funny in the pre Austin Powers age, a 7 out of 10.

SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER (1993) *** Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony La Paglia, Amanda Plummer, Brenda Fricker, Alan Arkin, Michael Richards. Hilarious comedy about a marriage phobia plagued neo-Beat poet (Myers) who finds the girl of his dreams (Travis) may in fact be a psychopathic serial killer.

Impressive supporting cast with absurdly hilarious situations and performances. Myers also plays his ribald Scottish dad and Charles Grodin has a hysterical cameo.

So, I married an Axe murderer is not the sort of Mike Myers comedy that people have become used to over the years. Myers will, undoubtedly, be most remembered most for his Austin Powers series, but this is a film that certainly should not be forgotten; Myers was never funnier than he is in this movie.

The plot centres around Charlie Mackenzie (Myers), a man who can never have a girlfriend without finding a flaw with her which always leads him to end the relationship. That is until he meets Harriet Michaels. She seems perfect, but the flaw that Charlie finds with this woman, may cost him his neck...

What follows is a tour-de-force of comedy. It is true that a few of the jokes don't really work, but the ones that do REALLY work, and it 's easy to forgive the movie for the ones that don't. In fact, I haven't seen this movie in over a year, but I'm laughing as I type this. This movie features some positively brilliant moments, from Myers' poetry sessions ("Woman! Woah-man, wooaaaaaahhhhh-man"), to the very Scottish father, played to perfection by Myers who has a duel role("Head! Move! Now!") to Charlie's police man friend, who is definitely the man with the most comedy; his conversations with Charlie regarding the song "Only You", the moments with his police chief (a memorable performance by Alan Arkin) and most notably, the parts with the commandeered driver ("No, it's one of my favourite things") are positively hilarious. The entire cast of this movie delivers their lines with a great comic timing; a lot of the quotes I mentioned aren't funny out of the context of the film, but due to the way they are delivered and the context of the movie, the dialogue is side splitting.

There isn't a lot of plot or heart to chew on with this movie, which accounts for the lot of the reason that this is a short review; but when a film is this funny, who cares what it's about? In the face of Myers' more commercially successful movies, such as Wayne's World, Austin Powers and Shrek; So, I Married an Axe Murderer isn't going to win a lot of fans as it's not as outgoing as the other three and a lot of the humour is very wry. However, this is Myers finest hour and this little comedy gem should definitely not be forgotten.