History Film / TheWrongGuy

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Nelson's father-in-law apparently liked to engage in this in his office. ''Despite'' the security cameras in his office, as Detective Arlen and the other investigators discover when they review the footage.
-->'''Detective Arlen:''' ... And he knew he was being recorded?\\
'''Security Guard:''' ''[looking haunted]'' Oh yes. He ''wanted'' us to watch.

* WeirdnessCensor: No matter how conspicuous Nelson makes himself by acting as guilty as humanly possible, other characters never react beyond giving him strange looks.

* BadCopIncompetentCop: Of the two cops assigned to finding Nagel's murderer, one uses the investigation as a thin excuse to eat at restaurants, visit strip clubs, see a Music/{{Moby}} concert, etc., and the other seems to believe this will genuinely help.

* TheDitz: Nelson... is not the brightest of men.

* FugitiveArc: Nelson's character arc is a parody of one - it's a ShaggyDogStory from the very beginning and Nelson's actions are just plain absurd.
* TheGhost: Constance, Nelson's fiancee. He calls her twice to update her on events, including that he's fallen in love with another woman, but we never see or hear her.

* InelegantBlubbering: Nelson after finding out he's been passed over. He's unknowingly leaning on the intercom, and [[NoSympathy his coworkers gather around it to laugh]].

* LineOfSightAlias: Nelson wakes up in a hospital; believing he's a wanted man, he needs a fake name. So he tries "Enemabag Jones". When the doctor isn't convinced he tries again, reading "Dr. Helen Harris" off her nametag. Later, when he meets Lynn, he gives up and just tells her his real name.

* NoNameGiven: The real killer, a paid assassin, is never named in the movie and only credited as "The Killer".

* OverlyLongGag: Nelson discovering his boss's dead body is essentially 3 minutes of Dave Foley screaming and trying to wipe his boss's blood off himself. Another Overly-Long Gag: Nelson trying to check into the motel.
* ParentalFavoritism: Nelson assumes being married to his boss' daughter means he's got the promotion locked up. Only for his boss to inform him Ken Daly is married to his ''favorite'' daughter.

* RunForTheBorder: What Nelson tries to do, thinking he's on the lam from the police. But no one is looking for him, and he keeps crossing paths with the actual killer by pure chance.
* RunningGag: A lot of people think that Nelson is a woman. Also, Detective Arlen wants nothing to do with catching the killer, and is constantly using the police's funding of his case to his advantage.

* UnpronounceableAlias: Whatever Nelson scribbles in the motel sign-in book. Kevin [=McDonald=] comes around the desk to help him read it out loud.

* WrongGenreSavvy: As the movie's tagline puts it "A fugitive in his own mind." Nelson believes that he's the central character of the classic "wrongly accused figure must clear his name" story, unaware the cops know full well he's innocent and could care less about his antics.

* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon: Nelson not only takes the knife out of Nagel's body, he hangs on to it, brandishes it as he walks through the building, drops in in the elevator and has it handed back to him by another passenger, and when he finally tries to get rid of it by throwing it off a bridge, it lands directly on a police boat.

* TheGhost: Constance, Nelson's fiancee. He calls her twice to update her on events, including that he's fallen in love with another woman, but we never see or hear her..

* TheUnfavorite: Nelson thought he was a lock for the promotion as he's engaged to the boss' daughter. It turns out the guy who got it is engaged to the boss' favorite daughter.

* TheFoodPoisoningIncident: Happens to Nelson twice, once when he [[WhatAnIdiot happily eats some strange berries and a large mushroom he finds in the woods]], and more understandably when he hides in a freight car full of canned hams that turn out to be tainted.

A 1997 comedy film starring [[Series/TheKidsInTheHall Dave Foley]], Creator/JenniferTilly, David Anthony Higgins and Creator/ColmFeore.

A 1997 comedy film starring [[Series/TheKidsInTheHall Dave Foley]], Jennifer Tilly, David Anthony Higgins and Creator/ColmFeore.

'''Security Guard:''' ''[Looking haunted]'' Oh yes. He ''wanted'' us to watch.

* MexicanStandoff: Neatly explained by the killer:

* SustainedMisunderstanding: Exaggerated to the point where it's the underpinning of the whole movie. Nobody actually thinks Nelson killed his boss, but the police never track him down and tell him as much, so he spends the entire movie on the run. By sheer ContrivedCoincidence, he keeps coming across the actual killer, who comes to think he's some kind of supercop hunting him down. Both are very clearly wrong, but don't realize it.