Me? Myself, I Wasn't Crazy about "Me, Myself and Irene" by Homer Yen (c) 2000
What's the first warning sign that you're about to watch dimwitted entertainment? The answer is when the program has a narrator that sounds oddly like the guy who narrated "The Dukes of Hazzard" or the guy who sings the theme from "The Beverly Hillbillies." Here's another question. What is the filmmaking Farrelly ("There's Something about Mary") brothers best known for? The answer is an incessant desire to bring gross-out yuckiness to the big screen. Here's the final question. What can you expect from this film, which combines a doltish sounding narrator with Farrelly-type material? The answer is a dimwitted, gross-out movie that is about as fun and gross as changing 10-day old kitty litter.
The film features the likeable but milquetoast Charlie (Jim Carrey) who has been with the Rhode Island police force for over 18 years. Despite his badge, uniform and tenure, he just can't seem to garner any amount of respect. That's pretty bad when you're an officer of the law. When he asks that a car be moved, the owner throws him the keys and asks him to move it, to which Charlie bashfully agrees. When he tries to ask a toddler to stop playing in the street, she screams and scares him off. The whole town laughs at him, but Charlie just ignores it all. He manages to keep the indignity repressed deep inside. Even his most traumatic and heartbreaking experiences are locked away. Charlie just swallows hard and graciously accepts his predicament.
Eventually, his angry side begins to surface. When irritated, Charlie slips out of his sissy demeanor and transforms into Hank, who comprises all of the pent up heartache, disappointment, and frustration that Charlie has ever endured but put away. Charlie avoids confrontation; Hank invites it (when one is present, the other is suppressed). This is where Carrey gets to have the most fun, but his actions as Hank the Avenger are more like acts of an overgrown bully. For example, he dunks a young girl in a fountain for talking back, threatens a boy for slurping too loud, and even steals an ice cream cone from another young tyke. Against adults who have slighted him, his vengeance manifests into acts of wonton crudeness.
His behavior is becoming a liability to the department, so they assign him to escort a prisoner to upstate New York. She's Irene (an adorable Renee Zellweger) who we later learn is being hunted by her mob boyfriend. Irene's only chance of survival might be Charlie. But our hero is not mentally capable of leadership and is constantly fighting a battle against Hank for control of his body. Most of the film centers on this bizarre triangle between Charlie, Hank, and Irene.
Alas, this becomes a tiresome plot. The primary problem is that the film lacks the insight needed to resolve the inner battle between Charlie and Hank, and the gags weren't nearly as funny as those bizarre situations from "There's Something about Mary." At least those gags took the audience by surprise. Here, the Farrelly brothers are trying to notch the grossness up one level, but it really borders on humorless disgust. The best moments are when Carrey is allowed to be his limber, silly self. He's a good actor who convincingly transitions between his two altered states. And Zellweger can do no wrong as the girl who likes Charlie but is fearful of Hank. Ultimately, "Me, Myself and Irene" felt as out-of-focus as Charlie's schizophrenia.
Grade: C S: 2 out of 3 L: 3 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3
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