The previous film written and directed by the Farrelly brothers, There’s Something About Mary, was incredibly well-received by the public, scoring big at the box office. The movie was well-like by critics too, and it eventually achieved recognition from the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 comedy films of all time. Obviously anticipation was high for the release of the newest film from the Farrellys, Me, Myself, and Irene, but this new movie unfortunately falls far short of all expectations.
In Me, Myself, and Irene, Peter and Bobby Farrelly tell the story of Charlie, a Rhode Island state trooper (played by Jim Carrey) who begins to suppress his emotions when his wife leaves him and her three kids for a midget. Eighteen years later, Charlie is a wimpy pushover and is generally considered to be a joke by all the people who know him.
One day, however, his emotions finally get the better of him and he snaps, unleashing a mean and nasty split personality named Hank. Hank immediately starts taking revenge upon everyone who has ever abused him, treated him with disrespect, and even people who just happen to be standing there at the time.
Carrey has worked with these two directors before on one of his early films Dumb and Dumber, and that experience he has with the subject matter shows. His comedic performance is rather good, as he shifts between Charlie’s two personalities so easily that the audience begins to look at them as two totally separate individuals. In the initial transformation scene in which Hank first manifests himself, Carrey displays his ability to mold his face like rubber into various contortions, a talent that won him his reputation as a king of comedy back with Ace Ventura and The Mask.
But Carrey’s acting can only carry the movie so far, and none of the jokes ever rise beyond a juvenile level. The Farrellys are very much going down the same roads they traveled in their previous films. Only this time Hank’s sheer meanness totally alienates viewers, and the potty humor is not handled as intelligently (if you can believe that) as in There’s Something About Mary. Sight gags involving dogs doing their business on Charlie’s front lawn don’t come across as funny, just gross.
Eventually the semblance of a plot is formed, when Irene (played by Renee Zellweger) gets arrested, and Charlie must escort her back to New York to face charges on a warrant issued there. On the way Charlie and Irene run afoul of the mob and some crooked cops. They have to take it on the lam, Charlie’s pills which control Hank are accidentally left behind, and shenanigans ensue.
But this story never pays off comedically because it is much too weak, merely a contrivance thrown together so that Hank can get them into a string of wild situations. What could Irene possibly know about the mob that she could tell the police? Such questions were ignored by the Farrellys, who chose to concentrate more on the next gag about sex toys they could fit into the script, thus doing both the audience and the movie a real disservice.
When the plot does come together, it’s usually due to an incredibly cheesy voiceover narration which is totally unnecessary. Half the time the narrator tells us things we already know from simply watching the movie, as if the directors didn’t trust the audience to be smart enough to pay attention and remember details of the plot. The other half of the time, this narration is trying to back the writers out of corners. Whenever the plot sort of gets mired in one place, the narrator chimes in, explaining how everything miraculously turned out alright for Charlie and Irene.
The only real bright spot in the film involves the three actors who played Charlie’s sons. Their few scenes, including one foul-mouthed lesson in quantum physics, truly stole the show and brought on the few laughs this movie had to offer. But they are not alone enough to earn a recommendation for this film.
In the end, this film, rather than deserving comparisons to There’s Something about Mary or Dumb and Dumber, would be more like the Farrellys’ second film, Kingpin. That film too was a huge disappointment, full of the most inane humor and formulaic plot devices ever conceived in cinema. If anyone saw Kingpin, it was probably on video, and the same should be said of Me, Myself, and Irene. IF you have to see this movie, you should definitely wait for video. But remember: that’s a mighty big “if.”
