Wrongfully Accused (1998)
Director: Pat Proft Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Kelly LeBrock, Melinda McGraw, Richard Crenna, Michael York Screenplay: Pat Proft Producers: Bernd Eichiger, Pat Proft, James G. Robinson Runtime: 90 min. US Distribution: Warner Bros. Rated PG-13: sex related humor, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
It's hard to motivate myself to write a review for a film when I know I will have spent more time on it than the makers spent assembling the film. The film in question is, of course, Wrongfully Accused, which has been written and directed by Pat Proft and stars Leslie Nielsen. See, it just isn't funny. I laughed approximately five times, and each time it was a weak and uninspired display of hilarity. There are so many jokes in this film -- I would lose count if I tried to keep track. It spoofs just about every popular film, from Casablanca all the way up to Titanic, and it botches every single gag.
In fact, I can't recall a single film reference that I found funny. Oh, wait! I laughed when the usher pointed to the seat with a lightsaber. Other than that, we're talking dust-in-the-mouth dry. I think I smiled a few times, but there is so much room for uproarious entertainment in a film like this, and Wrongfully Accused simply fails. I know it's bad when a film makes me realize the good things about a comedy like BASEketball, which actually had some pretty funny moments. And this one pales in comparison to Mafia!, which had me laughing from start to finish.
If you've seen the unfunny trailer, then you know what to expect. It's a parody of The Fugitive, with about thirty other film references piled in for good measure. Nielsen plays Ryan Harrison (it's probably supposed to be a joke that Harrison is also the first name of that actor who played the main character in The Fugitive...oh, what's his name...). Harrison is Lord of the Violin; the first scene is arguably the "best," for it is mildly amusing to see Nielsen fake violin playing and then instigate a mosh pit in front of the stage.
>From there, however, it's a drop-off into a limp and lame graveyard of meaningless jokes and unfunny plot developments. See, Harrison's adversary is the one-armed, one-legged, one-eyed man. Harrison needs to prove his innocence, because he's been framed for the murder of the husband of a woman he really likes (Kelly LeBrock). He's also being chased by a U.S. Marshall; Richard Crenna has this role, and fails miserably in mocking Tommy Lee Jones to any degree of funniness.
It's not the material that flops, but Proft's approach. The one-armed, one-legged, one-eyed man, for instance, isn't very funny, though it seems like it should be. I think it would have been funny to see an armless man, though, who walks around without prosthetic limbs. Other references are equally flat: the Titanic scene (which is in the preview) just isn't interesting at all. It's not funny to see the heroes kissing, and then get hit in the face by a big steel girder. What makes a spoof funny is exaggeration: if the girder had hit them, and they went flying off the screen, while screaming loudly and violently, then I might have laughed.
The performances don't really help out. Nielsen plays it straight, as he always does, but the problem is that he's the same character as he's been for the last ten years. LeBrock is okay, but looks disinterested. The only other character worth mentioning is Crenna's, and, as I said, he misses the mark by miles.
It's not worth my time, or anyone else's, to sit through a dumb 90-minute comedy that will have you laughing for twenty-five seconds. I don't even know how a film like this got produced and released: humor is, for the most part, universal, and I can't imagine anyone finding an acceptable percentage of Wrongfully Accused bearable. It's a comedy that won't make you laugh, and a spoof that barely spoofs its targets. Nobody put any thought into this production. Learn from my mistake and don't waste your time with it.
* out of **** (2/10, D-)
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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