Nelson Hibbert is outraged when he is passed over for promotion to the head of the company. He confronts the CEO but finds he has been murdered. He panics and, assuming that everyone will assume he did it and he flees the scene and tries to head for Mexico. The police find that the CCTV shows that the killer was actually a hit-man and they start trying to trace him and ignore Hibbert altogether. However the killer is also fleeing to Mexico and tries to avoid the police, but they are hard on his heels. The problem is that Hibbert assumes the police are chasing him and continues to run, while the killer assumes that it is Hibbert who is leading the police to him and sets out to kill him.
I knew nothing about this film when I sat to watch it and I was immediately intrigued by the enjoyably stylish title sequence. From this clever homage, the film continues with a sense of humour that is slightly silly but it is not 'dumb' or 'gross' silly. Rather, it is quite cleverly written and involves jokes/material that are quite imaginative AND silly at the same time. Things like the unethical cop, the various twists on convention, the silly characters and some nice lines make it consistently enjoyable even if it is only occasionally laugh out loud funny. The twists include a family bank that is under threat from an evil farmer and many references to Hitchcock movies including quite a funny finale that comes out of North By Northwest. It is hard to describe the style of humour but I found it funny and I imagine those who have a slightly warped sense of humour will find much to enjoy here suffice to say that if you fancy the idea of the end credits featuring a song from 'Moby The Musical' then this is the film for you!
The cast are pretty good but it is the material that makes them come across as such. Foley's 'everyman' is good not an idiot but silly nonetheless. Tilly is given a lot straighter role and doesn't have as much good material hence she doesn't really stick in the memory as narcolepsy is more a device that would be used by the Farley's as opposed to Foley. Writer Higgins is good as the cop and his interludes are consistently funny even if they are pretty much the same gag. Feore is good as the killer and has some funny moments late on in the film as well as delivering the line that made me laugh the hardest in 'I fell on my keys'. Small roles from Banks, Scarfe, Colantoni and a few others are all good mainly because their material is imaginative and quite funny, even if some of it is only one line.
Overall this is a funny, enjoyable film that will not appeal to everyone but it will be amusing for those with a slightly slanted sense of humour who enjoy silly humour that is more imaginative silly than dumb silly. The material is pretty well written and contains plenty of nice touches even if the overall plot is just daft. I didn't know what to expect and I was consistently amused and laughed heartedly quite a few times why this was badly treated everywhere but Canada I can't really understand.
