"The Gun In Betty Lou's Handbag," however, isn't merely a genial misfire. It's downright awful.
Penelope Ann Miller (the teacher in "Kindergarten Cop") stars as Betty Lou, a mousy homemaker whose husband (Eric Thal, the aspiring rebbe in "A Stranger Among Us"), ignores her. He's a homicide detective investigating the murder of a hood in a local motel. So, when Betty Lou stumbles upon the murder weapon, she confesses to the killing just to get his attention.
Lame humor alternates with sadistic violence (some of which is far too rough for the film's PG-13 rating) and music videos are used to pad for time in between desperate, histrionic attempts at humor.
There are some very talented people in the cast, including Alfre Woodard as Betty Lou's rookie attorney, Cathy Moriarty as her seasoned cellmate and Julianne Moore (the ill-fated best friend in "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle") as her sister. But director Allan Moyle ("Pump Up the Vol-ume") doesn't have a clue as to how to make any of this material funny.