So I Married An Axe Murderer

I love this movie and it is a part of me.

I cannot recommend this movie enough.

This film was a staple of my household growing up and in rewatching it incredibly informative to my humor.

So I Married An Axe Murderer follows Charlie an insecure beat poet who sabotages (queue Beastie Boys) his romantic relationships. He meats (pun intended) a butcher named Harriet, with whom he quickly hits it off and they fall in love. In the background to all of this there have been a series of murders committed by an unknown woman of her husbands. Charlie has a friend who is a cop (YUCK) who eventually suspects Harriet of being the murderer and goes to stop her.

The film stars Mike Myers as Charlie who plays him with a relaxed, fun, and silly demeanor and is incredibly charming in the picture. I’m used to his bigger performances (don’t worry he gives one in this movie) and it was so refreshing to see him play a normal(ish) person.

Mike also plays Charlie’s Scottish father who is a loud cad with massive glasses and a bad attitude. It feels like he gets all his wacky energy out playing that goofball and is then able to give a grounded performance. His Scottish accent in this? Very good! Thanks for asking. It’s based on his real father and so feels more authentic than perhaps Shrek or Fat Bastard do.

His mother, is played by Brenda Fricker who you may recognize from being a national Irish Treasure but also from Home Alone 2. She gives a wild and silly that is filled with subtly. She’s truly inclndenct on screen and this film made me want to watch more of her films.

Harriet is played by Nancy Travis who balances being sweet and threatening perfectly. She really holds her own next to Mike’s silliness and is also quite funny and charming throughout. Also, her hair is incredible in the movie and she can really hold the centre of the film. A true steady hand that makes you believe she loves Mike. I cannot speak highly enough about the chemistry between Nancy and Mike, they’re so fun to watch and seem to genuinely like each other heaps.

His cop friend is also fun despite bing a cop. He’s an undercover cop so he has like an earring or whatever. But, he’s funny and grounded and really well cast.

Surprise appearance by Phil Hartman as a park ranger and truly just steals the show.

This film has some truly incredible gags that made me laugh out loud as I watched it alone in my room on a Wednesday night. The writing is strong and the execution of the jokes stronger.

This is how it opens:

And it only gets funnier from there.

ALSO THIS FILM IS SHOT BEAUTIFULLY???? Julio Macat knows how to use the camera to emphasize jokes and also dramatic moments so well. There’s a scene where Charlie and Harrier break up it cuts to a wide that shows off the beauty of San Francisco and how alone Charlie will feel in this wide world without Harriet.

I remember watching this film with my parents when it was on TV growing up which why I was surprised to her the word FUCK a couple of times throughout. I remember sitting on a couch and laughing with my family as Mike did an accent or pretended to be a Russian Ballet dancer. I remember popcorn with apples and blankets as we stayed up late watching this stupid movie.

There’s a moment where Mike pretends to be Nancy and places his thumb under her chin making her mouth move and says in nice things about her in a high pitched voice. This is something I have done with romantic partners in the past and didn’t even know that it wasn’t me that didn’t came up with the gag.

All and all a great watch. A crips 90 minutes of fun!

This scene also really got me. When the coworker says “we was my ride” I lost my mind.

The runtime is 93 minutes.