Sigh.... Ya know, sometimes the film industry just kind of makes me a bit ill. And with THE WRONG GUY's lack of release even though the audiences they've screened it to have enjoyed it... Even if David Foley is quick becoming a favorite cult comedian... And it seems by most accounts to be a very good movie. It's been released and is on video in Canada... But is nowhere to be seen in the good ol U. S. of A. Well, here's FreeRide with his take on the whole deal, listen up...
"The Wrong Distributor: How THE WRONG GUY Fell Into The Wrong Hands"
The air is stale. A film cannister falls. Luckily you are quick enough to catch it. As a puff of dust rises in its wake, you take a closer look at the lid. The ink is too faded to read. Towering above, numbering in the hundreds, film cannisters stacked to the ceiling... films that time forgot. This place is a maze of lost films, each label stamped with a recognizable black circle with smaller circles for ears.
One particular label catches your eye. It’s a newer film, but does show signs of age. It’s been on the shelf for a while. You can barely make out the title. THE WRONG GUY. You pause for a second. The name strikes a cord inside you. You can’t help yourself –- you snatch up the print and make for the nearest exit.
The coast is clear. The only thing stopping your escape is a guard who hovers on the edge of sleep. As you approach, his rat-like eyes send chills through your body. He knows you have something you shouldn’t have... or does he? He leans back in his chair, closes his eyes, and you pass unchecked. You leave holding a copy of a film that hasn’t seen the light of day for two years.
In THE WRONG GUY, Dave Foley (A BUG’S LIFE, DICK, NEWSRADIO) plays a delusional executive named Nelson Hibbert. As the film opens, Hibbert's on his way into the office for what he thinks is going to be the announcement of his new promotion. He gloats to every person he passes, wearing a happy-go-lucky smile, a spring in his step.
He passes a couple of executives standing around the water cooler, tosses out a "Hey, fellas. How ‘bout that game last night?" Someone asks, "What game? There was no game last night," but Hibbert's already moving again. Nothing's going to keep him from having his "big day." What Hibbert doesn’t realize is that his life is about to change, just not in the way he imagined. His promotion is given to someone else, and Hibbert is disgraced in front of his peers.
When Hibbert decides to confront his father-in-law, he finds the man dead, a knife imbedded in his neck. Not thinking clearly, he removes it. With his fingerprints now on the murder weapon and his hands covered in the dead man’s blood, what can he do? He does the only thing a sane man could do in Hibbert’s position, the thing he's been conditioned to do by a dozen different suspense films -- he decides to make his way to Mexico and wait until he can prove his innocence. With a combination of dumb luck and good old-fashioned panic, Hibbert manages to escape, determined to prove the cops are after (drum roll please) THE WRONG GUY!
What Hibbert doesn't realize, and what really makes the film work, is that the cops already know he didn't commit the crime. They have the murder on tape. The whole time Hibbert's on the run, the police are chasing the real killer, and it's only coincidence that keeps bringing Hibbert, the cops, and the killer together, with no one realizing just how clueless anyone else is.
THE WRONG GUY is a hard movie to categorize. It’s a comedy, but its formula is unique. Its structure doesn’t follow the normal set-up, punchline, wait for audience to get it and laugh, like most comedies. The filmmakers were smart enough to keep the pace constant. As an audience member, you have to be quick enough to keep up with all the plot twists that are typical in a Hitchcockian man-on-the-run thriller. Those elements are all there, except they are heightened to their extreme. That’s the key to what makes it funny.
The film began life as an independent. Paragon Films of Canada financed the film with seven million dollars. Hollywood Pictures, the now-defunct subsidiary of Disney, put up an additional four million dollars to secure the US distribution rights. That may have helped finish the film in more ways than one. When Hollywood Pictures got their hands on the film, they handed it to their marketing department. As with any picture, they began to figure out how to sell the film, planning test screenings, and then the unexpected happened. Hollywood Pictures went belly up, taking everything and everyone with it.
Actually, it shouldn’t have been too unexpected. There was a saying around town, based on the quality of the average Hollywood Pictures film, and playing off their logo: "If it’s the Sphinx, it stinks." When the distribution arm folded, many films were lost in the shuffle. If you ask Disney or Buena Vista, they’ll tell you they’ve never heard of THE WRONG GUY. Unless an executive has personal interest in a particular film, they couldn’t care less about it. There’s no impetus to release someone else’s movie. But wait... there’s more!
Disney did one test market screening for THE WRONG GUY. Not surprisingly, it played poorly. Imagine that... poor scores for a subtle parody starring an eccentric comic actor, with much of the humor making reference to films that have never been seen by the prime test audience, young teenagers. Sure, Disney was hoping for something like an ACE VENTURA or THE WATERBOY, something that would be huge with the 14-21 crowd. That’s their coveted demographic these days. They probably broke the script down by the numbers: innocent man accused, failing bank, love interest, evil must be stopped. That describes the basic shape of the film, but it leaves out the details, and that’s what distinguishes this particular comedy. When Disney lost Hollywood Pictures, they should have sold THE WRONG GUY’s rights to someone else, a distributor who could, and would, actually market the film.
I don’t think I understood NORTH BY NORTHWEST until I was nineteen. The recruited audience for THE WRONG GUY screening consisted mostly of your average high school/college age kids with no film background. Responses from the screening indicated a dislike of Dave Foley as a lead, but that doesn’t take into account what a monumental boob Foley’s playing in the movie. Disney’s marketing department claims the film has "no stars" and "is not a parody."
First of all, isn’t Disney the studio that released A BUG’S LIFE? Didn’t that film "star" Dave Foley? And before anyone says, "No, because it was animated," tell me who the stars of TOY STORY were. Is it really a kiss of death to have a "no-name" star? Keep in mind the film’s total budget. Director David Steinberg only had 10 million to work with (give or take a few pennies). How can you have a "star" in a film with such a small budget? The whole thing would only cover half of Jim Carrey’s salary. Is Disney saying that small films don’t make money? They can if they're marketed properly. Check out the per-screen average on Artisan Entertainment’s THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT so far.
As for their other comment -- "It’s not a parody" -- that remark boggles my mind. Did we see the same film? I can only assume that the marketing team associated with this film has never seen a Hitchcock film, or a single episode of KIDS IN THE HALL. This film is true to the style of work Foley’s done before. He co-wrote the script, and it plays directly to his strengths. He obviously understands parody better than the people supposedly selling his movie do.
As an artist, you can only wait for a studio so long. Dave Foley knew he had something on his hands, so he screened the film at the Aspen Comedy Arts Festival this year, where THE WRONG GUY received a "best screenplay" award. You’d think that would light a fire under a few asses, give a marketing department an angle to work with, but no. THE WRONG GUY has gained a sort of reputation in the comedy industry as being a lost gem. Still, the film gathers dust to this day. I can recall an incident similar to THE WRONG GUY, when the very public battle was going on between Terry Gilliam and Universal over BRAZIL. Gilliam chose to fight fire with fire, and was very public about it. He eventually won because he believed in his film. Sometimes you have to stab for that ankle, and hope the giant will fall.
If Disney had its way and was able to lock THE WRONG GUY away, I wouldn’t have been able to see the movie. But here’s the problem for Disney –- we (AICN) did see it. I started writing this as a simple review, but the backstory was just too interesting. I hope someday I’ll actually be able to review the release version of the film and give all those people who made the film great their moment in the spotlight. I’m writing this because I actually want to see this small film succeed, and the only way it can is if it’s allowed to be shown in theaters. A brief aside here to Dave Foley -- you were right. THE WRONG GUY is some of your best work. You’ve done all you can.
Now it’s time for you to do the right thing with THE WRONG GUY, Disney, and remember: we’re watching!
FreeRide Forever!
