High Strung (1991)

IMDb plot summary: Thane Furrows, an extremely cynical but unintentionally hilarious children's book writer, wakes up one morning, and, since pretty much everyone and everything annoys him, begins another day of complaining to himself. However, the day proves to be much different than normal when Thane begins to receive strange phone calls, letters, and voices in his head, all indicating that something will happen at 8 o'clock.
Directed by Roger Nygard. Starring Steve Oedekerk, Thomas F. Wilson, Denise Crosby, and Jim Carrey.

(Mild spoilers ahead.)

This movie is really unique, and I appreciate that a lot. I always love when movies break typical conventions to do something just a little offbeat, and this fit that. My one beef with it is simply that the main character's negativity frequently didn't work for me. I know his whining is supposed to be funny, but I have known those people and they are exhausting and soul-sucking to be around, and I felt moments of that throughout this. As the movie went on and I got more into the groove of the constant stream of negativity and sarcasm, I was able to enjoy it more, but there were still plenty of moments that just made me sigh and say, "Ugh, can you please like SOMETHING?"

The final 10 minutes, however, are awesome and tie the whole weird rambling story together in a very entertaining way. Without giving too much away, Jim Carrey's tiny role at the end is absolutely hilarious. ("You're only allowed to say it 18,000 times and then they call me in" made me literally laugh out loud.)

This is a really bizarre but kind of fascinating movie, and it's one that I could definitely see myself returning to in the future. Even now as I rank it, I find it going much further up the chart than I at first expected, largely on the strength of that ending. It's certainly going to stick with me. This is one of those movies that this challenge is MADE for, because it's one I never would have sought out on my own.

4 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
High Strung > Definitely, Maybe
High Strung > Murder by Death
High Strung < Kramer vs. Kramer
High Strung < Seven Samurai
High Strung < The Secret Garden (1987)
High Strung < 9
High Strung > The Impossible
High Strung > Catfish
High Strung < Bubba Ho-tep
High Strung < The Departed
High Strung < Christmas in Connecticut
High Strung < Chariots of Fire

Final spot: #607 out of 2548.