There's Something About Mary
It seems to me that the Farrelly brothers are the most disgusting people on the face of this planet. I mean, correct me if I am wrong, but did they not give us the gross and vulgar Dumb and Dumber? Did they not give us the nauseous Kingpin? Yes, they did, but for some reason, this crude form of humor (often called "potty" humor) is irresistibly hilarious. The Jim Carrey-Jeff Daniels flick was a riot, and Kingpin is their most outrageous and funniest film to date. However, after seeing THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, I believe that those two creators should stick to the PG-13 area.
Don't get me wrong... I love a good vulgar comedy-fest. However, there is a limit to which my tastes will go, and this film merely drove over that limit and then sped on its merrily way. Believe me... if you have any standards whatsoever, I suggest that you skip this film. By getting an R rating, I didn't quite know what to expect. I figured it would be more vulgar than Kingpin, but I also thought it might be funnier. In essence, the Farrelly brothers took everything from Kingpin, increased the vulgarness and decreased the humor. As a result, the film is funny at times, but mostly just annoying to watch.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY begins with Ted (Ben Stiller) talking to a shrink. You will have to pardon me if this is not how the film begins. I fell asleep before the movie began because it started half an hour late. This is the moment that I awoke. Anyway, he's telling the story of his senior prom. Ted was a geek in high school and didn't exactly attract girls. However, Mary (Cameron Diaz) thinks braces are sexy, and she asks Ted to the prom. After meeting her parents (Keith David and Night Court's Markie Post), Ted goes to the bathroom while Mary finishes getting ready. Ted accidentally catches himself while zipping up and enormous laughs result. The ensuing conversation is one of the best written scenes I've seen in a comedy lately. Unfortunately, that's about where the comedy ends.
Thirteen years later, Ted has now grown into a handsome man, but Mary is no where to be found. After the incident, they never saw each other again. Ted, however, is still infatuated with her, and he would like to find her. So his friend Dom (Chris Elliott) hooks him up with a private investigator. Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) agrees to find her, but when he does, he finds himself liking her. As a result, he lies to Ted and uses information he has gotten to get her to like him. Ted finds out later that Pat lied to him, and he decides to go to Florida to talk to Mary himself. Along the way, he picks up a hitchhiker, gets caught during a homosexual sex party, and gets indicted for murder. And yet, all of this isn't as funny as it could have been.
When he finally meets Mary, the comedy starts to pick up again. Mary has begun a relationship with Pat, but she is quickly learning that he is a jerk. The rest of the film consists of several different men trying to win the respect and love of Mary. Mary, on the other hand, begins hating all of them. We all know how the film will end, but the Farrelly brothers make sure that we think otherwise, which they almost do with their tricky plot.
Bobby and Peter Farrelly both directed this film, and yet the style is very simplistic. It's told extremely straight-forwardly, but these two do have a knack for creating some great comedic moments from editing. Take, for instance, the moment when a dog flies out a window. A few seconds later, the scene cuts to the dog in a full-body cast. It's very funny, and yet only the few key scenes are. Everything else is pretty much just filler for the meetings inside Mary's house. Every single one of them is a riot and shows all the potential this film could have had. If you have seen the trailer, you have seen nearly all of the funny moments. It's very surprising, considering that these two guys are responsible for the laugh-a-second Kingpin. I guess they ran out of ideas. The screenplay is actually quite complex for this kind of a movie. Most characters have hidden agendas and secret relationships. Finally, everything comes crashing down at the end, and it's actually kind of fun to watch. If only the four screenwriters could have come up with something funny.
Vulgarity can help a film along only so far, but once a film pushes past the tasteless barrier, it begins to gnaw at the nerves. Such is the case with this movie. I would like to warn sensitive readers: I'm going to be giving away some plot points that you may find disturbing or shocking. But they are in the film, so if you can't handle it here, don't see it. One, if you can handle the sight and sound of a man cleaning his pipe (aka spanking the monkey), and if you can handle the results (they are actually shown on screen--one of the more disturbing moments in film history). Two, if you don't mind people's handicaps being made fun of. Three, if you don't mind seeing a crisp woman's breasts that have shrivelled in the sun. The list can go on and on for quite a while. If you find the list above humorous, you may find this movie funny. I, for one, was more embarrassed than anything. This mean-spirited comedy is exactly what they mean by "toilet" humor. Those who had problems with Dr. Dolittle are going to have a fit with this one. The Farrelly brothers have claimed that they are simply pushing the envelope. From watching this film, it's going to be hard for them to push it again with their next film.
One of the major problems with THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY is the cast. In Kingpin, the entire cast was hilarious. Here, however, the cast is a hit-and-miss situation. Ben Stiller is good as the goofy but lovable nice guy. Matt Dillon is no where near what he could have been. He is very able for comedy, as seen in In & Out, but here he gets grating. Cameron Diaz shines and almost makes this film worth watching. Diaz is one of the very few consistent actresses in Hollywood. Even when the material sucks, she still manages to make it better than it should be. Lin Shaye steals every single scene that she is in. If you have seen the trailers, she's the white woman who almost looks black. Shaye, a Farrelly regular (she's the landlord in Kingpin), keeps giving memorable characters consistently. Here, she tops anything she's done in the past with a witty and hilarious characterization of a woman who doesn't know about skin cancer. On the other side of the acting spectrum is Chris Elliott. Elliott has never really given a very good performance, but here he just bottoms out. When he gets hives on his face... well, lets just say it makes you want to run out of the theater. W. Earl Brown gives a rather good performance as Warren, Diaz's mentally challenged brother. Lee Evans gives a strange and forgettable performance as a crippled architect. And Brett Favre shows up at the end for a special guest appearance. Let's just say that he won't win any Academy Awards for his performance.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY is rated R (and boy should it be) for strong comic sexual content, language, nudity, and just plain crudeness. When the Farrelly brothers made Kingpin, it seemed as if they tried any joke they could to get a laugh. It worked. Here, they rely on old formulas, and it's almost like they aren't trying. The jokes here are crude and disgusting to the point of not being very funny. I think they should stick to the PG-13 movies where they have to restrain themselves a little more. We'll just have to wait for their next one, and let's just hope it's better than this mess.