Pogue (Dana Carvey) wakes up one morning in Venice, California and doesn't remember a darn thing about his life. Suffering from daily short term memory loss, way before Drew Barrymore did, Pogue listens to a tape he made the day before. It states he is a private detective and that he has been called upon to testify against a gangster (Michael Gambon) who blew up an automobile containing Pogue's lovely girlfriend, Sara (Valeria Golino). Yet, Sara appears on his doorstep and asks for his help. How can this be? She directs him to follow her to a fashion show, where she will tell him more. In the meantime, Pogue is "arrested" by police officers, who take him to a surprise birthday party, where he is the guest of honor. It seems Pogue used to be a policeman and had contact with a D.A. (James Earl Jones), an assistant D.A. (Kevin Pollack) and others. But, Pogue fails to recognize anything that will jog his memory, not even with a doctor's help (Michael Murphy). Will Pogue and his darling canine, Baby, be able to dodge the bullets of those out to prevent him from testifying, without knowing exactly what is going down? This is a nice little film with a very fine cast. Jones is always welcome and Pollack is acidly funny most of the time, too. Golino is very lovely and Gambon is quite amusing as the designated gangster. As for Carvey, he has such great comic skills that it is a shame that he never gets to attain his usual "go for broke" humor, but he is still funny and a very attractive performer in his own right. Kudos to the little dog in the movie, too, as he is highly entertaining. As for the costumes, sets, and production values, they are quite adequate, and the script and direction show decided originality and zest. In short, if you love Carvey, you will like this film, even though his humor has been toned down. But, truly, anyone who loves off-the-beaten-path comedy films will embrace this one with zeal.
