What a delightfully dark movie. It reminded me of Envy, with that intentionally uncomfortable tinge of loathing and desperation. I liked Envy, just like I liked Axe Murderer, because I respect a filmmaker who doesn't care whether their viewers feel uncomfortable.
That was meant as a compliment.
Mike Myers does his best to be entertaining, which can be compelling and distracting moment to moment. I can see the director waving his hand at Mr. Myers and saying, “Just do something funny.” It felt unfair to leave the guy hanging with ballerina prancing in the quad at Buena Vista park for a solid two minutes while Ms. Cardboard offers the same cryptic open-ended statements we come to expect.
It's his winsome, pure enthusiasm that carries him through performances like this, but the guy just falls flat sometimes. It's not his fault. The movie leans on his personality too much. We just cycle back to the same two notes the whole movie through, which is enough, but barely. Jim Carey, John Candy, Robin Williams, whoever – we can't just throw these people into a movie and let good intentions carry them through. Mixing slapstick and mothers-kissing-friends fodder with the notion of brutal serial axe murdering is an uneasy combo at best, and shifting back and fourth between touching “take me seriously” romantic sequences and the abusive drunk Scottish father screaming at his child and wife made me wince more than once.
I like this movie. I honestly do. However, it feels conflicted, and that conflict muddies the fun I feel like we were supposed to be having here. The bits that included Mike's cop friend were hilarious, and the trip to Alcatraz was perfectly uncomfortable. Bryan Cranston absolutely nailed his role – the guy had me rolling. The spoken word segments were a lot of fun too, and the beat generation references made me feel comfortable and warm inside. All in all, it's a win. I can't really imagine another way it could have come out.
Watch So I Married An Axe Murderer
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