These days, comedy is a tricky proposition.  Gone are the days when cultural insensitivity was supposedly funny.  There may be some to mourn this change, but I am not one of them.  The lazier evolution is seemingly to make everything as offensive as possible.  The more raunchiness, scatological humor, or other aberrant behavior, the better, or so this brand of logic goes.  This offends my Catholic sensibilities, and any other sensibilities that might remain.  This is why when you come across something that is genuinely chuckle-inducing because it is carefully crafted, you have to appreciate it.  I wish I could say that The Wrong Missy (2020) fits into this latter category.  Please forgive me for what I am about to write, my God, because I do not like to be the kind of critical I anticipate being.

Because there is a lot wrong with The Wrong Missy, I am going to change my usual format.  Any synopsis I write would be unimportant.  Besides, even if you have not seen this movie, you have seen this movie.  In the briefest of terms, know that it is about advertising executive Tim Morris (David Spade), who goes on a blind date with pathological liar Missy (Lauren Lapkus).  She turns out to be so crazy that he tries to ditch her by jumping out of the bathroom window, only to land awkwardly and dislocate his ankle.  However, when word gets around the office that somebody new, Jack Winstone (Geoff Pierson), has bought their company and promotions are afoot, Tim wants to do whatever he can to advance.  He thinks he has that when he meets Melissa (Molly Sims).  For his co-workers, she is the perfect person to help him get over his ex-fiancée, Julia (Sarah Chalke), but she will also be the ideal date to bring on an upcoming work retreat.  To Tim’s surprise, the person who he has been texting with to get to this weekend is Missy.  He learns his mistake when she sits next to him on the plane.  From here for most of the rest of the film, she behaves in the most outlandish fashion, upsetting him and everyone else with whom she interacts.  The only thing that outweighs her insanity is her slavish devotion to Tim.  Eventually, the crazy things she does have an impact on him, and he comes to appreciate her.  Yet, she learns about Melissa, and angrily leaves the Hawaiian resort where they have been staying.  Because of the devotion Tim has developed for Missy, he coldly receives Melissa when she arrives.  Upon returning to his Portland home, he quits his job and manages to reconnect with Missy.

With such a brief synopsis of The Wrong Missy, you might not think it so strange that Tim would want to reconnect with Missy.  I did say that she was a pathological liar, but that could have been hyperbole.  It is the unadorned truth.  She keeps telling people that she is some kind of doctor and/or therapist, which is not true.  She also leads those she meets to believe that she can predict the future.  Neither of these are what one would call ideal characteristics for a Christian no matter the kind of relationship.  The prohibition against lying should be obvious, but prognostication might not be as well known.  To use a clichéd phrase, it is called the “present” because it is God’s gift to us.  It is also all we can control.  There is no going into the past, and everything beyond the current moment is in God’s hands.  The Almighty has given people insight into future events, but there again it is only by His grace that such things happen.  And before anyone trolls me by suggesting that this is what is going on with Missy, I would add that those gifts are typically meant for a person’s spiritual benefit, not the inanities we see here.

It does not feel good to pick on The Wong Missy, in this case the title character, but the inanities are too numerous.  Perhaps the biggest one is her lack of inhibitions.  There are some who think this is not a bad thing, and there is a Christian aspect to this argument.  God made us as we are, and He has a plan for how He created us.  Trying to be anything else typically does not go well for a person.  In this way of thinking, our inhibitions could be us trying to conform to what others expect of us.  That is not good, and if there is any silver lining in this disaster of a film, it is that Tim eventually comes to understand that he is living his life based on what others expect him to do.  At the same time, Missy’s actions are sociopathic.  It is okay to be circumspect when dealing with other people, but not okay to act as if those others do not matter.  Taking the feelings of others into consideration is a good thing, but you cannot allow yourself to be imprisoned by them. There is a healthy balance between the two extremes, and that is approaching Christ-like.  The problem with Missy is that she is all extreme, and not in a good way.

There is nothing good to say about The Wrong Missy.  The best thing for Missy would have been to be checking into a clinic where her condition could be studied.  If I were you, I would study a good book instead of watching this movie.