Mr. Wrong
Mr. Wrong | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Nick Castle |
Written by | Chris Matheson Kerry Ehrin Craig Munson |
Produced by | Marty Katz |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John Schwartzman |
Edited by | Patrick Kennedy |
Music by | Craig Safan |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $12.8 million[1] |
Mr. Wrong is a 1996 American
Plot summary
The film begins with Martha Alston in a wedding gown
Some months earlier, Martha attends her younger sister's wedding. Afterwards, Martha is pestered by her overbearing parents about when she will get married herself being 31 years old with her biological clock ticking. Martha works as an associate producer for a local TV talk show in San Diego. She rejects an offer of going out on a date with a younger co-worker, named Walter. Disappointed by her dull Valentine's Day blind date, she goes home to sulk in front of the TV, where, inundated by romantic imagery, she is prompted to get out of the house.
Martha goes to a bar where she drops her quarter in front of the jukebox. She bends down to get it when a man shows up and selects the same song she would have chosen. He is Whitman Crawford, and they instantly hit it off. They go back to his house and have sex. He says he's a poet and an investor, and has money. He reads her one of his poems.
Whitman appears charming and charismatic in which he and Martha begin dating. Martha introduces Whitman to her family and he impresses all of them. But by the time she meets his strange and eccentric mother, Martha has become convinced he is not "Mr. Right" at all. After Martha tells Whitman that it is OK to "be himself" around her, he suddenly breaks character and shoplifts a six-pack of beer from a local store and enjoys crushing the empty beer cans on his forehead. It is here that Whitman is revealed to be a crafty, devious, narcissistic sociopath who hides behind a charming nice-guy persona that fools literally everyone he comes into contact with. To make matters worse, Whitman's ex-girlfriend, Inga (who is nearly as crazy and deranged as Whitman), and her
Once in Mexico, Martha attempts to escape and manages to place a phone call to San Diego to her former office to the only person that has not fallen under Whitman's influence: her co-worker Walter whom she manages to hurriedly explain that Whitman has abducted her and to travel to Mexico and rescue her. Whitman then catches up to her and disconnects the call. Inga and Bob appear and attempt to kill Martha, but Whitman comes to Martha's rescue and manages to drive them away at gunpoint.
At the church where Whitman is forcing Martha to get married in front of her deluded family, Walter shows up at the last minute to rescue Martha from the wedding, but trips. His gun falls into her hands and she shoots Whitman who attempts to lunge at her. Then she's arrested, which leads to Martha telling the local authorities her entire story. However, even the Mexican investigators are unsympathetic and conclude that she murdered Whitman intentionally. As they are transporting her away, Walter springs her out of jail with Bob's help and explains that it was Inga who did it; she attempted to shoot Martha from the church balcony, but when Martha tripped, Inga hit Whitman by accident. Walter claims that Whitman is still alive at a local hospital and he will recover from his wound.
After meeting up with Bob in the desert, Martha and Walter ride a horse west towards the sunset, while Bob leaves to return to Inga. Title cards over the closing scene explain that Martha and Walter eventually turned north and returned to the USA where they became romantically involved and currently live under assumed names, Inga and Bob got married and opened a pet store in
Cast
- Ellen DeGeneres as Martha Alston
- Bill Pullman as Whitman Crawford
- Joan Cusack as Inga Gunther
- Dean Stockwell as Jack Tramonte
- Joan Plowright as Mrs. Crawford
- Hope Davis as Annie Alston
- Ellen Cleghorne as Jane
- Robert Goulet as Dick Braxton
- John Livingston as Walter
- Peter White as Mr. Alston
- Polly Holliday as Mrs. Alston
- Camille Saviola as Consuela
- Briant Wells as Stuart
- Brad William Henke as Bob (as Brad Henke)
- Christine Cattell as Nancy Culpepper
- Maddie Corman as Missy
- Jonathan Hernandez as Self
- Victoria Elena Flores as Nicole (as Victoria Flores)
- Louie Anderson as himself
- Casey Kasem as himself
- Jean Kasem as herself
Production
In January 1995, it was announced Ellen DeGeneres would star in Mr. Wrong for a reported $2.2 million.[2][3] Some scenes were shot at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.[4][non-primary source needed]
Reception
The film was critically panned, garnering a score of 6% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes from 31 critics. The critical consensus reads: "A mean-spirited joke without a punchline, Mr. Wrong is so painfully unfunny that Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Pullman's lack of chemistry feels like a total drag despite being the point."[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Mick LaSalle, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, said that after a good start, the film became "dreadful" and "inherently unfunny" starting midway through from the point when after Martha breaks up with Whitman after seeing his true evil persona, in which he then begins stalking her and literally destroys her personal and professional life while continuing to fool everyone around her with his charismatic, good-guy facade.[7]
Rita Kempley, writing for The Washington Post, assessed the film a "sour, listless debunking of romantic comedies, ... [with] fewer laughs than Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and laments that "Ellen DeGeneres, a comedian and sitcom star in her film debut, [who] is ostensibly the protagonist here" does not control the action, but her character "merely reacts to [Whitman's] twists and turn-ons".[8]
Not every critic disparaged the film. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter of the DVD & Video Guide gave it three stars, and while acknowledging that "the script is predictable and Nick Castle's direction is only adequate", they found that "DeGeneres's personal charm and a few inspired gags make it all worthwhile".[10]
DeGeneres has herself joked about the film, saying "I think Mr. Wrong, my very first film which was a horrible flop, that should have a sequel".[11]
Box office
Mr. Wrong opened on Presidents' Day weekend on February 16, 1996 and debuted at No. 6 with $5,106,797.[12][1] Its total worldwide gross was $12,825,141.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Mr. Wrong". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ Laski, Beth (January 8, 1995). "DeGeneres Deal". Variety. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
- ^ "Leap From TV to Film No Longer So Great". Chicago Tribune. January 26, 1995. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ "Famous Films & Movie Star Guests | The Del's Hollywood Connection". Hotel del Coronado. December 19, 2013. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- ^ "Mr. Wrong (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
- ^ "Home - Cinemascore". Cinemascore. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ^ LaSalle, Mick (August 23, 1996). "Little Right About 'Mr. Wrong'". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ Kempley, Rita (February 17, 1996). "'Mr. Wrong' (PG-13)". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ReelViews. Archivedfrom the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Random House Publishing Group. p. 737.
- ^ "Ellen DeGeneres: Oscars changes 'long overdue'". BBC News. July 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ Welkos, Robert W. (February 21, 1996). "Weekend Box Office : It's a Bull's-Eye for 'Broken Arrow'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Mr. Wrong at IMDb
- Mr. Wrong at Rotten Tomatoes
- Mr. Wrong at Box Office Mojo