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What’s the Buzz: The Wrong Missy and Cycle of the Werewolf

Lauren Lapkus backs up on David Space in The Wrong Missy

Welcome to What’s the Buzz, 25YL’s feature where members of our staff provide you with recommendations on a weekly basis. In our internet age, there is so much out there to think about watching, reading, listening to, etc., that it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, filter out the noise, or find those diamonds in the rough. But have no fear! We’re here to help you do that thing I just described with three different metaphors. Each week a rotating cast of writers will offer their recommendations based on things they have discovered. They won’t always be new to the world, but they’ll be new to us, or we hope new to you. This week, Vincent Greene is watching The Wrong Missy and Will Johnson is reading Stephen King’s Cycle of the Werewolf.


The Wrong Missy: Hilariously Over the Top, Endearing Story about Real People

Vincent: In many ways the Netflix original The Wrong Missy is a throwback to comedies of the early 2000s. Just like many before, it centers around a blind date that goes awry, which in turn leads to a crazy chain of events after a case of mistaken identity. It sounds just like your run of the mill rom-com, and it kind of is. But it is the way The Wrong Missy’s uses its crazy over the top humor that helps it stand out amongst the crowd. Although David Spade is the lead, it is Lauren Lapkus who not only steals the show but carries the movie for the most part.

Lapkus’s turn as the titular Missy is so ridiculously outlandish and wild—from the get-go, she is loud, brash and borderline manic, but never misses a beat throughout. She plays so well off David Spade’s jaded straight guy routine. The unlikely duo manages to have surprisingly good chemistry, even though the characters are polar opposites. It suits the narrative really well. Spade plays Tim Morris straight down the middle, using his experience to get out of Lapkus’ way, so she can shine with her youthful energy, which helps the pace of The Wrong Missy to no end.

We are made quickly aware that Tim isn’t the interesting character, coming across as a little more than desperate and a bit of a douche, but that’s the whole point. He has to be that way for his journey with the crazed but charming Missy to not only have a payoff but it also helps you stay on Missy’s side during the whole movie even as her antics get more and more out of hand. As the story progresses things get real weird, real quick, and the humor is almost cartoonish with its exaggerated nature, but the characters themselves always manage to stay human and relatable.

This is a testament to the way The Wrong Missy tells its story, I don’t usually like these movies because the characters themselves aren’t likable, but that’s definitely not the case here. There is not one person in the whole movie that is not hilarious in their own way, and even with the bevy of silly side characters, they don’t distract from the two main focal points of the story. A lot of these movies stray too far away from the main story, trying to use silliness on the periphery as filler, and The Wrong Missy does this to a certain extent but always comes quickly back to its real strength; that being its leads.

I think it was because of this ability to know its own strengths and how to stay on message that The Wrong Missy stood out to me. As I previously mentioned, I usually don’t enjoy these types of movies but I was surprised by how endearing the characters were and how funny the movie is from start to finish. The Wrong Missy is a pretty simple, oftentimes silly, but still a heartwarming story all wrapped up in one messy but somehow neat little package.

Written by TV Obsessive

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