MYST Post #1: So I Married An Axe Murderer

I was able to watch one of Mike Myers’s best comedies: So I Married An Axe Murderer. This movie is based around a first generation Scottish man named Charlie Mackenzie who lives in San Francisco. The story revolves around his love life and his fear of marriage until he meets a butcher named Harriet Michaelis (played by Nancy Travis). Their relationship goes well until Charlie develops an unsettling fear that Harriet is the infamous “Mrs. X” who kills her husbands on their honeymoons. The movie takes a surprising twist at the end which only adds to this unique romantic comedy.

Mike Myers is a unique actor. His ability to play pretty much any role adds to the pleasure of watching him on screen. Compared to his roles in Austin Powers, So I Married An Axe Murderer takes on some lighter character roles but nonetheless funny as his other movies. Myers in these two movies has been able to play multiple characters in the same movie, sometimes in the same scene. At times, the recognition between Myers and his characters are indistinguishable. For example, in both Austin Powers and So I Married An Axe Murderer, he has played the stereotypical Scottish man. In Austin Powers, he plays a fat Scottish pig named Fat Bastard while in So I Married An Axe Murderer, he plays Charlie’s Scottish dad, Stuart Mackenzie. Both of these characters are played over the top but in a way that adds to the scene through his use of facial expressions and emphasis on certain lines and phrases. Watching Mike Myers is entertaining enough in a movie.

Thomas Schlamme, the director of So I Married An Axe Murderer, has directed mainly TV series and films, making So I Married An Axe Murderer one of his best known works. Since this is one of his only films, the cinematography has many usual characteristics, the shot angles during dialogues are mainly Medium shots and Medium close ups. Yet, Schlamme makes this film unique by having San Francisco be a heavy influence in the shots used. Scenes that could have been shot at any usual place in comedies like this (home, coffee shop, work) are shot by the Golden Gate Bridge or Alcatraz. Schlamme shoots a scene of Charlie and his best friend talking about his first date with Harriet during a tour at Alcatraz. The setting added a humorous element to the scene by bringing in two very contrasting topics. The camera work also is used to accentuate some comedic elements in the movie. For example, Charlie’s younger brother is criticized by his dad for having a too big head. Therefore, in the scene, the shots are positioned to have his brother in the majority of the shot while Charlie’s father is left in a small portion of the shot.

My favorite scene in the movie is the opening sequence. The premise of the first scene is bringing Charlie a cappuccino at a coffee shop where he will be reading poetry. Instead of having ordinary medium shots to occupy the scene, Schlamme takes you through the whole process of the dirty cup getting cleaned, filled, and brought to Charlie in a very chaotic coffee shop. The sequence is shot from the perspective of the waiter’s tray which shows the large cup being brought to Charlie and his corresponding response to the massive cup with “Excuse me Miss, there seems to be a mistake. I believe ordered the large cappuccino. Hello!” Although it is a seemingly unimportant scene, how it was shot from the viewpoint of the tray adds to the feeling of the craziness  yet order of a coffee shop by showing how the cup is reused and prepared for the next customer and helps support Charlie’s joke about the ridiculous nature of the cup. This scene sets up the mood for the movie to be one of clever shots and funny quips by Myers.

Overall, I give this movie a 5/5.