OH JOE

Misadventures of a hero who can’t help it if women love him.

If his girlfriend Kelly hadn’t left him over a meaningless one-night stand, Joe Prince would never have gone to the bar where he runs into his high-school friend George, who hires him to watch his houseboat, anchored in the middle of a lake. As it turns out, George really wants to use the clueless Joe’s truck for a series of robberies. Tiring of life on the tiny boat, Joe uses a float to get ashore. The next day he’s picked up for murdering George. His prints are all over the houseboat and the fatal shotgun. Sergeant Steponkus thinks Joe’s guilty until his lawyer, Cayenne Davenport, points out that the wounded dog found on the boat belongs to neither George nor her client. Clearly, there must be another suspect. When Kelly mentions seeing George and Joe’s other high-school friend Chuckie with a big German Shepherd, a lineup is arranged to see if the dog can pick out his owner. Kelly’s mom is hospitalized in a coma after an attack. Joe is shot and lands in the same hospital, where he has to fight off the attentions of the nursing staff. Can he get off the hook for the murder and grow up enough to keep Kelly and their son?

Another charmingly droll look at crime from Lewin (Eye Opener, 2004, etc.).