Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the makers of Dumb & Dumber and Kingpin, have a knack for making some of the most unusual, but funny, comedies to come down the pike in quite a while. Sometimes, their unique brand of humor results in some outlandish and hilarious sequences. Other times, it comes across as hideously cruel and sick. There’s Something About Mary features many examples of both types of their humor. Fortunately, the funny sequences outnumber the sick ones — but just barely.
The movie begins in 1985 in a small Rhode Island town. Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) falls in love with Mary Jensen (Cameron Diaz). She’s popular and beautiful and he’s a dorky brace-face. Unbelievably, she asks him to the prom. Ted, because of an “accident” involving his zipper and his manhood, can’t make it to the prom with her. Shortly afterwards, her stepfather is transferred to a new job and she moved away. Ted never saw her again.
For 13 years, Ted has convinced himself he loves no one but Mary. Finally, under the advice of his friend, Tom (Chris Elliott), Ted hires Pat Healy (Matt Dillon), a private investigator, to find out where Mary lives and if she’s married. Healy travels to Miami Beach where Mary is working as an orthopedic surgeon. The problem is that while Healy follows Mary around, he falls in love with her too. When he returns to Rhode Island, he lies to Ted. He tells her that Mary is fat, has four kids, is in a wheelchair and is leaving for Japan to be a mail-order bride. Healy then quits his private investigator job to fly down to Miami to pursue Mary for himself, telling Ted that’s he’s accepted a job with Rice-A-Roni. Ted is crushed, but soon learns that Healy is lying and takes off for Miami to prove his love for Mary.
That may sound like a fairly normal, if somewhat odd, plot to a romantic comedy. Believe me, there’s nothing normal about the execution of this plotline. If you’ve seen Kingpin or Dumb & Dumber, you probably already know that the Farrelly Brothers will spare nothing to attack someone for a laugh. Even animals are not safe from their brand of humor. Having seen their movies before, I sort of knew what to expect. If you haven’t seen any of their previous work, expect anything. And keep in mind: the more disgusting it can be, the more likely it is to happen.
Ben Stiller, who has been rather underappreciated in films and TV despite being consistently hilarious, finally gets a chance to be seen in a role that showcases his humor and pathos. Matt Dillon, who was devious and slick in Wild Things, is perfect as the slimy Pat Healy. Cameron Diaz is adequately attractive, sweet and charming in her role. She doesn’t get a lot of laughs, but her role is mainly to provide Stiller and Dillon with a comic foil.
I laughed a lot during this movie, in spite of myself. There are some very funny moments and not all of the humor is sick and twisted. Some moments in the film actually border on sweet and tender. The movie works on two levels. It’s an adequate romantic comedy and it’s a very gross, but funny, movie. If your idea of a good time is a combination of the two, There’s Something About Mary is for you.
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
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