THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
Rebecca Wan
Directed by : Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Written by: Ed Dector & John J Strauss
Main Cast : Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott, Jeffrey Tambor, Markie Post, Lin Shaye
Official Website: www.aboutmary.com/.
Other URLs: MARY Screensavers and crew/cast Quicktime interviews.
Rating : * * * out of * * * * *
This Review Filed: September 15, 1998.
Is it possible? Could the Farrelly brothers be .. maturing? Brothers Peter and Bobby, who have in the past delivered to us such cultural masterpieces as KINGPIN (see Inkpot review) and DUMB AND DUMBER, appear to have won the hearts of Americans yet again, with the excessively base THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. (Note to readers from the future: if you're reading this some time after this film's release and don't believe me about the popularity of this film, here's a link to the IMDB box office figures to show you how well MARY is currently doing domestically).
The premise is that Mary, who is played by Cameron Diaz, is apparently so exquisitely charming that every male she meets becomes smitten, many to the point of obsessive behaviour (stalking, murder, spying, take your pick). The snare comes in the form of Ben Stiller's Ted Stroehmann, the requisite Geekboy with the heart of gold. Not surprisingly, because Mary is the designated high-school goddess, she fulfills her destiny of finding him sweet despite his obvious nerdiousity and asks him to the prom. An unfortunate incident involving a zipper and swollen genitalia (his, not hers) prevents this milestone event, however, and soon after Mary moves away from the neighbourhood. Will Ted and Mary find each other again? If they do, will they get together? The suspense is killing, is it?
In the present, ten years later, Ted tracks Mary down with the help of a scuzzy gumshoe, played by Matt Dillon in a tacky mustachio. But said scuzzy gumshoe also falls in love with Mary, and mounts a series of deceptions to capture her attentions that invevitably unfold a surprising number of other deceptions that I must say I found rather enjoyable.
It's hard to deliver a verdict on this film because I haven't actually seen all of it. Singaporean readers might want to refer to this list of scene descriptions to ascertain the ones our venerable censors have felt necessary to deny us, and believe me it's quite a list. Suffice to say that anyone who doubts that the Farrelly brothers are connoisseurs of all comedy pertaining to bodily functions, fluids, genital jokes and other forms of tastelessness should be rendered speechless with recognition by MARY.
Despite this, MARY is a step up from previous Farrelly renderings. There is, for example, a sustained effort to integrate gratuitous physical comedy and punchlines into the plot, and the directors have a likeable sense of ridiculousness that is put to good use in mocking generic scene expectations and recreating stereotypical characters. Included in this fold are a landlady so tanned and wrinkled that she makes George Hamilton look like Helena Bonham Carter, a nasty pooch-electrocuting incident and scenes about the handicapped that I'm sure are just not all that politically correct. In a nice reference to Mel Brooks (and early Woody Allen), the Farrellys use a pair of minstrels as curious musical narrators whose deliberately lame verses double as the soundtrack and narrative infomation.
MARY is funny, sometimes in a dopey way, sometimes screamingly so, Also, it's filled with characters that are for once almost substantial. Unlike the copiusly unattractive Jim Carrey in DUMB AND DUMBER, or the hilarious but empty cynical-naive pairing of Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid in KINGPIN, MARY strikes closer to the mainstream American pulse with Diaz and Stiller as the sparkling couple-to-be. Diaz is, for me, annoying, especially since she doesn't quite hit the perky high notes required of her role, but totally believable as the holy grail of the film's male posse, the ultimate object of affection. Stiller, who is like a more dimensional, warmer Seinfeld, is an amiable Everyloser, a whitebread nebbish, or rather, a temporary nebbish or mini-schlemiel, upgraded to normalcy by the affections of Cameron Diaz.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, like previous Farelly creations, belongs soundly in the same parody genre that holds the work of the Zucker brothers, Mel Brooks and early Woody Allen. But the preponderance of what I crudely term "guy" humour also recalls something of collegiate fare such as THE WEDDING SINGER and ANIMAL HOUSE. But somehow, MARY, with its added element of romantic comedy and with the screwball-ish twist in the conclusion, has an unexpected degree of sweetness that makes it.. well, likeable.
Why is Mary's hair
standing on end
in this scene? Click
here to find out.
(look for the
point about gel)Finally, I can't resist mention of That Scene, so lewd and silly that even though the Singaporean "version" doesn't have it, even though I only read about it, is so hilarious (and disgusting) that the thought of such a scene produces laughter. Singaporeans, take note: once you follow this link, hair gel will never be the same again.
The Flying Inkpot's Rating System
* Wait for the TV2 broadcast.
** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Gotcha!
*** Pretty good, bring a friend.
**** Amazing, potent stuff.
***** Perfection. See it twice.
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