Very disappointing...

To me, this movie is perfection.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

In Tettley, Missouri, Amos Lansing (Stanley Tucci) is having an affair with Charleen Barnes (Faye Grant). He's an used car salesman working for her husband Bob Barnes. When he offers to take her to Mexico, she runs off. Someone comes into the motel room and kills him with a shot to the head. The gun is thrown into the river and found by perennial doormat librarian Mrs. Elizabeth Louise 'Betty Lou' Perkins (Penelope Ann Miller). Her husband police detective Alex Perkins (Eric Thal) missed their anniversary dinner and is going to miss her library fundraiser for the murder case. She puts the gun in her handbag and calls Alex but he keeps brushing her off. When Elinor (Julianne Moore) pulls her into the store, Betty Lou has enough of everybody ignoring her and fires the gun in the washroom. With everybody dismissing her, she proclaims her guilt and is arrested. She gains confidence in jail with hooker Reba Bush (Cathy Moriarty) and starts weaving a tall tale about the shooting. She hires rookie lawyer Ann Orkin (Alfre Woodard) who helped her in the grocery line. Things get even more complicated when the FBI shows up claiming Amos is a fake identity and he's actually a mobster witness against ruthless mob boss Billy Beaudeen (William Forsythe). Beaudeen is after Amos' incriminating tape assumed to be now in Betty Lou's possession. She becomes an overnight star.Penelope Ann Miller is fun both as the timid librarian and as the more assertive woman. The movie was almost universally panned. It deserves better. Miller is appealing. It's nothing excessively funny but there are a couple of good laughs. It is an enjoyable farce.

I get a big kick out of this film, partly because I know a librarian named Betty Lou! Needless to say she is nothing like the semi-stereotypical librarian of the movie...In the film, Betty Lou is a mousy librarian and frustrated wife. Although innocent, she allows herself to be implicated in a crime of passion in order to challenge her husband's (all too accurate) preconceptions. With the aid of a prostitute with a heart of gold and an ambitious freshman lawyer, Betty Lou transforms herself into an assertive and confidant woman. Unfortunately there are some unforeseen consequences that could cost her her life!Other reviewers have pointed out that this film is very uneven in tone. It isn't really a romantic comedy, more of a light thriller like "Get Shorty." The real problem is that the plot isn't clever enough for a thriller, the humor isn't sufficient for a comedy, and it certainly isn't dark enough for noir. However it has a naive symbolism I find appealing, and the actors appear to be having a good time with their roles. I'd call it stereotypical rather than sexist - I can easily imagine some women I've known going to such extremes for attention! I wouldn't go out of my way to look this one up. But if it's on the tube and there's nothing else to see give it a try!

I beg to differ with the previous reviewer. On the contrary, this film does have a plot and is funny, with a rewarding ending. It is a light comedy, true. What I liked about it is that it is not just another cookie-cutter formula Hollywood movie. The plot is unique and believable, the writing is intelligent, the acting is adequate, the conclusion is appropriate to the plot. The two main characters, Betty Lou and Alex, grow and mature from their initial portrayal. It is not a major film, but it is rewarding in its own way, an enjoyable way to spend 89 minutes. Lots of fun.

At first I thought Penelope Ann Miller was going to be able to carry this film.You could see those wheels in her head churning when she figured out she'd be able to get her husband's attention if she confessed to a murder,and she had me laughing quite a few times.But about half-way through,it started to give me a headache and I had to turn it off.Something about that red dress she wore in the courtroom and the following scene at an airport with some really loud music had an adverse effect on me and I couldn't bear any more of it.