ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996            TAG: 9602190102
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW 
SOURCE: JANET MASLIN THE NEW YORK TIMES

`MR. WRONG' JUST NEVER SEEMS TO GET IT RIGHT

``Sometimes chemistry works and sometimes it doesn't,'' says Martha Alston (Ellen DeGeneres), trying tactfully to ditch an unwanted beau. ``Sometimes you get an explosion - or a really bad smell.''

Unlike the mismatched lovers they play in ``Mr. Wrong,'' Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Pullman actually do have good chemistry, but they don't have a movie to show it off. Good-humored but mostly flat, ``Mr. Wrong'' wastes an amusing premise and two likable stars.

Though ``Mr. Wrong'' marks DeGeneres' feature-film debut, huge close-ups and broad gags give it more of a television flavor.

As directed sloppily by Nick Castle, this comedy barely lets its main characters develop, even though either of them could be great fun. DeGeneres has the more reticent role as a single woman inundated by thoughts of romance, even though none of these thoughts happens to be her own.

A newlywed sister, lovestruck co-workers, ``From Here to Eternity'' on television: it adds up to so much external pressure that Martha takes a chance on a world-class loser. Pullman, that rare comic actor who can go from heartthrob to Jim Carrey-esque lunatic without missing a beat, plays the apparent dreamboat named Whitman Crawford.

Wowing Martha when they meet on Valentine's Day, Whitman soon reveals his darker side. One night, he shoplifts beer at a convenience store, calls the owner ``Homie,'' empties a beer can while driving away, smashes it against his forehead and then throws it at an old man in the street.

``What can I say?'' he tells Martha, who is beginning to worry. ``I'm in the zone.''

``Mr. Wrong'' should have spent more time in that zone itself. This comedy rarely gets crazy enough to be liberatingly wild, although it picks up slightly after Martha tells Whitman to get lost. This frees Pullman to become the perfect pest, even turning up in Martha's hospital room after she is injured, and admiring the compress strapped to her head (``God, you look sexy in that little hat'').

DeGeneres does a solid job of presenting herself as the only sane person on screen, but the role doesn't go much further.

Mr. Wrong * 1/2

A Touchstone release playing at the Crossroads and Salem Valley 8 theaters. 92 min. Rated PG-13 for discreet bedroom scenes and mild profanity.

LENGTH: Medium:   53 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  TV sitcom star Ellen DeGeneres (center) plays a single 
          woman who is initially enchanted and then appalled by a persistent 
          suitor in `Mr. Wrong.' color.