Me, Myself, and Irene (2000)

   
ME, MYSELF, AND IRENE, the largely unfunny (and darn near unwatch-
able, if you ask me) Farrelly Brothers' follow-up to THERE'S SOME-
THING ABOUT MARY, is a hard, *hard* "R"-rated road/romantic/crime 
comedy about a meek, multiple-personality disorder-suffering Rhode 
Island state trooper (Jim Carrey with a buzz cut) and the perky, 
corrupt cop-pursued prisoner (Renee Zellweger) he's escorting to 
way-upstate New York.  (For an outstanding warrant or some shit.)
Now, Motorcycle Boy's mental state is fine, provided that he takes 
his medicine, which keeps his hyper-aggressive, hyper-obscene al-
ter-ego in check.  Unless he *lost* said meds, which, of course, 
he does...  Ensuing ensues, with Farrally-style sex jokes a-plen-
ty, assorted "PG"-rated physical gags (such as a head-scratching 
bovine euthanasia bit), and Carrey striking zero chemistry with 
Zellweger in-between zany transformations.  (Zany and *annoying*, 
I'll add, as "Hank" adopts a Clint Eastwood-style rasp that's ra-
ther hard to hear.  Especially when the entire theater is laugh-
ing.)  Let's... did I mention the folksy narration by (the late?)
Rex Allen?  Or the periodic, pointless cutting away to the other 
cops pursuing them?  (Boy, boy, and girl get framed or something
like that.  I was too busy counting ceiling tiles to note specif-
ics.)

As the aforementioned (and actually *funny*) MARY made clear, Far-
relly filmmaking is a messy affair.  Anything goes, as long as it 
(eventually) leads to a laugh.  Here, they slap sympathy and shock 
value together, thinking it'll mix.  It doesn't.  They plop pop 
songs down like landmines, just to distract us.  Thanks, guys.
They even include the requisite number of their now-trademark gag 
gags, no matter if the story needs them or not.  Such as Carrey's 
accosting of a large-breasted breast-feeding breast-feeder.  Or 
what may be the very first motion-picture depiction of Post-Inter-
course Stream Shifting (PISS) during male urination.  (Take cov-
er.)  Okay, the script *does* contain some inspired off-color put-
downs.  (See: "G-spot" plus "12-pound.")  As well as one *genuine* 
innovation, the casting of Carrey's characters' three sons as big, 
black, motherf*ckin' Mensa-types (Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brown-
lee, and Jerod Mixon).  They steal every scene they're in.  (Best 
bits:  an expletive-laced discussion of quantum physics and one 
very funny helicopter hijacking.)  For those members of Mr. Car-
rey's fan club-- e.g., those who laugh at the mere sight of the 
actor-- he does all the faces and voices and oh-so-wacky contor-
tions.  He even throws himself out of a moving car!  As for Zell-
weger, well, I'll paraphrase her co-star's character:  she squints 
a lot and looks like she just sucked on a lemon.  Oh, and near the 
end, she cold-cocks him (ha!) with a rubber schlong.  Now *that's* 
acting!  With Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, and Richard Jenkins 
(Rated "R"/~110 min.)

Grade: C-
 
Copyright 2000 by Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies as MOVIE HELL: Say Good Night Irene