There's Something About Mary
A movie review by "Average Joe" Barlow
(c) Copyright 1998
STARRING: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, W. Earl Brown DIRECTORS: Bobby and Peter Farrelly WRITERS: Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, and the Farrelly Brothers RATED/YEAR: R/1998
Everybody loves Mary (Cameron Diaz), and it's easy to understand why: not only is she beautiful, intelligent, funny, and financially secure, she has the proverbial heart of gold as well. She places other people's needs well above her own, to the extent of spending all her free time doing volunteer work with the mentally retarded, a group that includes her beloved brother Warren (W. Earl Brown). Men can't resist Mary, and that's her biggest problem: she's constantly (and unintentionally) attracting losers when she wants a soulmate. Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller), Mary's high-school sweetheart, has never been able to forget her. After learning that she moved to Miami after graduation, he hires a private investigator named Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to track her down. If it turns out that she's still single, perhaps he'll be able to win her back. Unfortunately, Healy also falls in love with Mary after he locates and meets her. The two men suddenly find themselves, along with numerous other guys, in a fierce battle to win her heart... and they will stop at nothing, and I mean *nothing*, to end up with Mary in their arms. That's the intriguing premise of "There's Something About Mary," the surprisingly funny new film from the Farrelly Brothers, the duo who brought you "Dumb and Dumber" and "Kingpin." They've come a long way since then. "Mary" is far more mature (on the whole) than either of its predecessors, which too often relied on potty humor involving wee-wees, bathroom noises, and uncovered bottoms. Instead, "Mary" gives us characters that are actually interesting, rather than merely serving as transitions from one sight gag to the next. That's not to say that "Mary" is lacking in the humor department, however. There are lots of laughs to be found, and the scenes featuring the cute little dog belonging to Mary's next-door neighbor Magda (Lin Shaye) are almost painfully funny. Unlike "Dumb and Dumber," "There's Something About Mary" wisely allows the jokes to serve a story that's clever and interesting in its own right. The result is a film that leaves you laughing even as you wonder what's going to happen next. Matt Dillon's performance as Pat Healy, the private investigator, is tremendously entertaining. After eavesdropping on a conversation between Mary and her girlfriends, he discovers that she wants to meet a guy who loves to travel to "exotic places like Nepal." Her mystery man must also be creative (like an architect, for instance), and he must love sports. This gives Dillon's character the opportunity to introduce himself as a freelance architect and football nut, who owns a condo in Katmandu. In another attempt to impress her, he proudly states that he "loves working with retards." Mary is of course aghast at his crassness, but he doesn't catch on. He then explains how he keeps his "little retard friend Mongo" locked up in a cage, but allows him to run around the yard on one of those "clothesline-leash things." The scene is brilliantly played by both Diaz and Dillon: just witness the way Mary is torn between repulsion and adoration for Healy, and the way he simply doesn't get why his crass remarks offend her. Stiller, as the high-school sweetheart, is fun as the straight man. He never tries to be anything he's not: all he wants is another chance with the girl of his dreams. Perhaps this is why he's so appealing to us. Other less important characters drift in and out of the film, including Mary's British friend Tucker (Lee Evans), who plays a bigger role in her life than we might originally expect. "There's Something About Mary" contains moments of true comic genius, but alas, it sometimes shows chinks in its armor. The directors seem unsure whether its target audience, the "Dumb and Dumber" fans, will be able to handle a story of this caliber, so they revert to the "potty humor" standby a little too often. The opening scene, for example, in which a high-school-age Ben Stiller gets ready to take Mary to the prom, features a much-too-long segment in which our hero gets his male anatomy caught in his zipper. (Sarcasm: Boy, *that's* funny.) Another scene, which coincedentally involves an *adult* Ben Stiller bathroom penis adventure, is even more tasteless. The packed audience howled with laughter at both of these scenes; I scowled and rolled my eyes. (Sarcasm: Wow, that's even *funnier*.) And I guess I'm the only person in the world who does not find anything amusing about a man getting his crotch bitten by a dog. (That's three Ben Stiller penis jokes in the same movie, folks. I think the directors have some latent issues they need to work through.) The mostly clever screenplay only falters once more: early in the film, we learn that Mary's brother Warren tends to go ballistic when someone he doesn't trust touches his ears. After seeing this happen twice, I predicted that by the end of the film, Warren would allow one of Mary's suitors to touch his ears, and Mary would use this as a factor in deciding which one she wanted to date. I was not wrong. (And please don't accuse me of giving away a plot point; if you CAN'T see this coming, you should have your film-watching license revoked.) Overall, though, "There's Something About Mary" is a treat. Cleverly written, with characters who are an absolute joy to watch, this is one that should be seen by anyone who's ever pined over "the one who got away." With this role, Cameron Diaz finds herself one step closer to super-stardom. Oh, be sure to stay for the end credits, which feature a Jackie Chan-style montage of outtakes and cut scenes. Seeing the cast and crew lip-synching along to the '60s pop classic "Build Me Up, Buttercup" is almost worth the price of admission by itself.
RATING: 3.0 stars (out of a possible five)
This review was written: August 3, 1998 Copyright (c) 1998 by Joe Barlow. This review may be freely distributed as long as ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGES are made and this disclaimer remains attached. It may not be reproduced for profit without the written consent of the author. If you have comments or questions, please send them to: jbarlow at earthling dot net (substituting the appropriate symbols, to discourage spam).
----- "Average Joe" Barlow * MiSTie #73097 * Writer/musician/aspiring filmmaker jbarlow@YOURearthling.PANTSnet http://www.ipass.net/~jbarlow {Remove YOUR PANTS to e-mail me.}
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