Movie Review: So I Married an Axe Murderer

Stars: 2 out of 5
Pros: Tony's sub-plot; climax

Cons: Just about everything else

The Bottom Line:

The funny climax

Is best part of the movie

Rest is skipable

You Know the Drill.  Boy Meets Girl.  Girl Tries to Kill Boy.  Maybe.

I'm not a huge Mike Myers fan. But I had always been curious about his film So I Married an Axe Murderer. When I had a chance to catch it on TV, I took it. And I'm glad all it cost me was my time.

Charlie Mackenzie (Mike Myers) has a bit of a commitment problem. It doesn't matter how perfect his girlfriend is, he finds some reason to end the relationship.

Then, into his life, walks Harriet Michaels (Nancy Travis). With just one smile, she melts Charlie's heart. It's love at first site, and Charlie is ready to leave his bachelor days behind him.

There's just one little problem. Reports are circulating the country about a Mrs. X who kills her husbands on their wedding night. And Charlie thinks that Harriet may be Mrs. X. Is he just coming up with another excuse not to commit? Or is he signing his life away by asking Harriet to marry him?

This movie is filled with Mike Myers humor. And what is Mike Myers humor? Sexual jokes, four letter words, and awkward moments. Okay, this one is tame by comparison to some of his others, but I still found it more awkward then funny. I laughed a few times, but I wasn't laughing consistently or hard.

Charlie's parents certainly didn't help matters. Mike Myers plays dad Stuart, a proud Scot who provides most of the awkward moments. And Stuart's constant ragging on younger son Willie because of his big head wasn't funny once. Brenda Fricker as mom May actually did have some funny bits. Her reliance on Weekly World News for all her facts was funny. But I found her constant hitting on Charlie's best friend Tony (Anthony LaPaglia) creepy instead of funny.

The movie worked a little better as a romantic mystery. Mike Myers and Nancy Travis had great chemistry. Heck, I think I fell in love with Harriet myself. However, the story took forever to get where we knew it was going. I wouldn't have minded had I been laughing, but since I wasn't, it bugged me.

To show you just how much the story dragged, I was actually getting a bigger kick out of watching Tony deal with his disappointment at being a cop in real life verses being a cop on TV then I was the main story.

Now let me make it clear this isn't the fault of the actors. They all did a great job with their parts. They just didn't have much to work with.

The thing that almost saves the film is the climax. When we get there, we finally get the laughs I had been looking for all along. If the rest of the movie had been like that, I would have enjoyed it.

In the end, So I Married an Axe Murderer didn't change my mind about Mike Myers. If you are a fan of his comedy, you'll enjoy this flick. Otherwise, move right along.