Sweet and funny and totally underappreciated, this 1993 movie shows what Mike Myers could do before he picked up the "Austin Powers" gag and ran with it.
Myers plays a commitment-phobe poet, Nancy Travis is the beautiful butcher who is his dream girl ... and may be a serial killer. The rest of the cast is killer -- Anthony LaPaglia as a cop frustrated by the lack of action his job, Amanda Plummer as the kooky sister (does she play anything but kooks?) and marvelous cameos by Alan Arkin, Steven Wright, Charles Grodin and the late, great Phil Hartman as an Alcatraz tour guide named Vickie.
The beat poet riffs are hilarously terrible, and remind me of some of the losers who were in my classes in college. Myers' extended bit as his character's Scottish-obsessed father is straight out of his SNL work, but offers up most of the movie's most quotable lines -- it's surprising how many times you can hear someone bellow "HEAD! PANTS! NOW!" at my house.
The beautiful shots of San Francisco are a treat, too -- I have *got* to get to this town. I want to explore!
Dark and sweet at the same time ... like good chocolate.
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