Peter and Bobby Farrelly (of the “Dumb and Dumber” persuasion) have pieced together a movie that is part comedy and part romance and 100% junior high school, gross out nasty with boogers on top.

There is Something About Mary starts out with Ted Strochmann (Ben Stiller) landing a date with the high school hot-honey after being nice to her mentally challenged brother. When Ben shows up, the father F’s with him a bit (that is how the father words that joking-around stuff), the mentally handicapped brother body slams him, and Ben gets his you-know-what stuck in the zipper of his pants.

Actually this first part of the movie is somewhat funny. Most folks can relate to those teen years and can imagine the worst possible thing happening. This would be “it” for the guys I would think.

If the movie had stayed back in the high school years, then it might have worked . . . maybe.

After 13 years, Ted is still lusting after Mary who has gone on to be a drop-dead gorgeous doctor with a big practice. Since Ted can’t seem to find Mary, he gets a private detective to search for her. Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) finds Mary, but he wants her. He tells Ted that she is over 200 pounds and on welfare. Then Pat hangs around and dates Mary. In the meantime, Ted decides he wants to see her no matter what she looks like. He goes to Florida looking for Mary too.

On the way to Florida, Ted manages to get out to urinate in a gay hang out. The police pick him up for gay sex and then charge him with a murder and cutting up a body. A mentally ill person did it actually in the film, so PRESTO . . . Ted is free to head on down to Florida.

When Ted gets to Florida, Mary wants to go out with him right off the bat after F-ing with him (her words about her jokes). Ted’s buddy tells him that he needs to do something before any date or he is a loaded gun and nervous if he does not take care of some business. Ted takes care of that problem and gets some stuff on his ear which Mary thinks is hair gel and then rubs in her bangs. That is just the kind of humor in this movie and just the gross out variety rather than any deep humor you might have to think about.

The overall idea . . . a guy looking for a girl from high school is cute and has the potential for humor and romance. The Farrelly brothers can take a good idea and then stretch it until it is so thin that it’s not even fun to watch. It’s one thing to parody and spoof, but it’s another thing when a movie is so sophomoric that you need a barf bucket beside the couch. Of course, some folks do like the barfie movies, and this is one for sure.

The acting is actually decent, and the cast is high profile. But you can only do so much with potty humor. I suppose you could give kudos to an actor for appearing to jack off on a movie, but I’d just as soon skip that part myself. If you’ve seen one jerk-off, you’ve seen them all.

There is Something About Mary might appeal to a younger audience. This video may seem kind of cutting edge with the political incorrectness. Actually, you can find better alternative, in-your-face fare if that’s what you want. This is nothing new about being on the fringe though most rough cut stuff is not at your local Cinemax. I guess this is “daring” on some level, since it pushes some buttons in the mainstream realm. But really, it’s just more low brow (or no brow) ka-ka packaged up and peddled by the establishment this time rather than your basement variety pervert.




Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age