We Weren't Ready for So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)

It’s another movie review as a palette cleanser before Olivia’s final episode on the adoption and foster industry - this time a mid-90s romantic comedy that has been a staple in Olivia’s family since she was a kid. Incidentally, I had never heard of it, making for a fabulously surreal film experience.

What I got was an hour and a half of a mystifyingly unbalanced movie. Half of it was some of the most charming RomCom shlock I’d seen in a while, and the other half was Mike Myers milking a brand I’ve never really cared for in uncomfortable, forced scenes built to remind you that “Hey! This is that guy from SNL!” As someone without any nostalgic connection to it, I found it difficult at first to get past the frequently unbearable comedic timing on Myers’ part. It was infuriating - sometimes he really nailed the vibe of the film, and in other moments it felt as though he had never been in front of a camera.

The rest of the cast, however, was entirely charming. Nancy Travis was a fabulous emotional anchor and was the perfect blend of quirky and lovely. Amanda Plummer, always a solid character actress, was perfect as Harriet’s unsettling, mild-mannered sister. One of my favorite ongoing B-plots was an inept police officer, Tony (Anthony LaPaglia), learning that being a cop is more than what you see on TV and resisting that reality at every turn. Namely, he spends the majority of his screen time trying to coach his precinct captain (Alan Arkin) to be more like the captains of the most famous cop shows of the era - grizzled, hard-boiled, frustrated by his antics, etc. The captain, for his part, tries his best to accommodate Tony’s request, and the result is several scenes in which the captain tells off Tony for small infractions - followed by a quick review sesh where Tony gives his feedback on the performance. Adorable!

Another delightful surprise was Phil Hartman’s cameo as an Alcatraz guard-turned-tour-guide. There’s almost nothing I can say about this performance that does it justice, so I’ll just leave a link to his genius here.

So is it any good? I mean… yeah, I guess! It’s one of those strange movies where I fully expected to hate it - and even did for a good 20 minutes - but was won over by the unshakeable charm doused over the whole silly thing. This is a rarity on this show, but: You should watch it! If you’re interested in that quintessentially 90s not-great-but-cute RomCom shine, definitely give it a shot before you listen to our episode. If for no other reason, for the quick shot of a dart through Queen Elizabeth’s face. You know. To celebrate.