“The Wrong Guy” Special Reunion Screening at Museum of Moving Image
The Wrong Guy is a Canadian comedy film from 1997 that was directed by David Steinberg and co-written by Jay Kogen, David Anthony Higgins, and Dave Foley (with the final two people also starring in it; Kogen is in it briefly as a bus driver and Steinberg has a cameo as an outpatient reading a wearing a neck brace). All three writers, plus the film’s producer, Jon Slan, did a Q&A session after the screening of the movie at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY, that was moderated by Janeane Garofalo. After the film was finished, the company that was scheduled to distribute it, Hollywood Pictures, ceased operations, and the film went straight to video in the United States. Disney, the parent company of Hollywood Pictures, didn’t like the film, so it never screened commercially here until Hollywood Entertainment coordinated two screenings in 2023 at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles, CA on May 19th, and the one that happened on Sunday, September 3rd in NYC at MoMI.
I learned about the screening thanks to Screen Slate, where members like myself received an email about the screening along with a discount on admission, plus the site ran an interview with the creators and writer Danielle Burgos that’s available to read here. Before the film was shown, Alex of Hollywood Entertainment did a brief introduction and there was recorded video from a fan of the film, Will Forte, and the rest were from cast members who were unable to attend the screening in person: Colm Feore (The Killer), Kevin McDonald (Motel Manager), Enrico Colantoni (Creepy Guy), and Jennifer Tilly (Lynn Holden). Colm Feore shared that The Killer in The Wrong Guy was his favorite role ever and he probably landed it by bringing a Leatherman multi tool to his audition (and showed it on camera), Kevin McDonald’s video was extremely funny, and he said Foley made him audition a lot for his minor role despite their working relationship in “The Kids in the Hall,” and Jennifer Tilly filmed her piece from Toronto where she’s currently filming “Chucky,” and mentioned that she had a crush on Dave Foley when working on TWG and tried to get him to play poker with her (Foley doesn’t play poker).
During the Q&A, the audience learned that the film was shot in 35 days, and there were other famous Canadians that were considered for Tilly’s Lynn Holden role: Shannon Tweed, Neve Campbell, and Alanis Morrissette. Disney would have preferred Jim Carrey as Nelson Hibbert instead of Foley, and Higgins joked that they could have had careers if that actually happened. Producer Jon Slan revealed that the movie was very easy to get made and very difficult to get released, and Dave Foley immediately quipped, “just like a baby.” Garofalo felt she wasn’t doing a great job at moderating and joked that she was “The Wrong Moderator.” When an audience member asked about Joe Flaherty (Fred Holden), the panel members were effusive about his involvement (due to his work in SCTV), with Kogen sharing that the chair joke went much further than we saw in the film. Dave Foley revealed that he tore ligaments in one of his ankles in one of he earliest scenes of The Wrong Guy, and we also discovered that the water machine gag was done in a single take.
I brought my point and shoot camera to the reunion screening and the gallery in this post are images taken from my seat in the front row. From left to right are Dave Foley (Nelson Hibbert), David Anthony Higgins (Detective Arlen), moderator Janeane Garofalo, Jon Slan, and Jay Kogen.
I saw the film at home for the first time in April 2020, and had a blast laughing along during the sold out screening on Sunday night. I truly hope The Wrong Guy gets distribution* so more people can see an extremely funny film that the people who made it nearly three decades ago spoke so lovingly about before this special event concluded. Reggie Watts, another fan of the film, did an interview with Vulture about it last year. If you haven’t seen the movie before, thankfully it’s available on YouTube here, and I hope it becomes available for additional screenings and to purchase at some point in the near future.
*During the Q&A session, Janeane asked who had the rights to distribute the film today. I sat in the front row and as a joke, the panel pointed at me and asked if I would give the rights to distribute it and I quickly nodded. So if that actually happens, you’re welcome everybody!