Film Review: The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992)

about 2 years ago

(source: tmdb.org)

Hollywood teaches us that the life in small towns can be so suffocating that some people there can go at extreme lengths to break the monotony. One of them is the protagonist of The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag, 1992 crime comedy directed by Allan Moyle. Betty Lou Perkins (played by Penelope Ann Miller) is a quiet, modest librarian in small Missouri town who is mostly ignored by everyone, including her husband Alex (played by Eric Thal), detective in local police force. Instead of celebrating marriage anniversary, he leaves Betty Lou in order to solve murder of local used car dealer. Through strange set of circumstances, the murder weapon ends in Betty Lou’s hands. She tries to bring evidence to police but nobody is taking her seriously. Out of frustration, he fires the gun in ladies’ room and when apprehended, he impulsively admits the crime she didn’t commit. That instantly makes her celebrity because her fellow citizens are intrigued about the motives. While Betty Lou starts to enjoy her fame, Billy Beaudeen (played by William Forsythe), Cajun gangster who actually ordered the murder, sends his men to town.

Allan Moyle, Canadian director at the time best known for films with the subject of teenage rebellion, like Times Square or Pump Up the Volume, probably tried to apply the same formula on a character of a housewife making her oppressed and misunderstood. Unfortunately, the idea of rebellious housewife is wasted in uninspired script by Grace Kelly Bickley, which applies cliches, unfunny jokes and predictable ending, while potentially subversive content is removed in order to make film family friendly (although there are few scenes of violence that look like they belong to Tarantino’s films). Film is made watchable only by diverse and talented cast, most notably Penelope Ann Miller whose charm often managed to rescue films that didn’t deserve it. But all her talent in the end didn’t prevent The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag from failing at the box-office and sinking into well-deserved oblivion.

RATING: 4/10 (+)