“Charlie” (Mike Myers) is a San Francisco poet, of Scots ancestry, who has a sort of nervous paranoia that ensures he never really has too much luck with the lassies. Then he encounters “Harriet” (Nancy Travis). She uses a cleaver and an apron for a living, and seems to be able to look beyond his character flaws. Meantime, the newspapers are full of stories about a serial killer called “Mrs. X”. She appears to have taken something from the black-widow spider’s book of marital relationships and so routinely slays her husband. As the couple get to know each other better, “Charlie” begins to suspect the unimaginable - might she be the secret spouse chopper-upper? Well fortunately he has his policeman pal “Tony” (Anthony LaPaglia) to help him get to the truth, but need he worry at all and is there time? I’ve never really been a fan of Myers’s brand of humour, and as a Scot I usually take exception to the traditionally stereotypical portrayal of all things Scottish, but here he doubles up quite nicely with both an enthusiastic Brenda Fricker and an absent Rod Stewart (who isn’t Scottish at all) to present quite a fun conspiracy-themed comedy-thriller with a few quite well conceived red herrings and a plot that twists nicely at a conclusion that’s not so predictable as you might think. La Paglia doesn’t feature very often but when he does, especially towards end and he tries to commandeer a car, he raises a smile - and the whole thing takes quite an enjoyable ping at all things cheesy whilst drawing a an almost tragic picture depicting marriage as the ideal refuge of the Grim Reaper himself. It’s not a great film, and can be a little puerile at times, but it rattles along fine for ninety minutes.
