NewEnglandFilm.com

I thought I was prepared for the Farelly Brothers’ new movie, There’s Something About Mary. I was ready for jokes about bodily functions, jokes about extreme physical pain, jokes about a scantily-clad Cameron Diaz. What I wasn’t ready for was a movie that took itself seriously, which is the Farellys’ only true misstep in this amusing, if somewhat slow, love story.

First, however, a confession: I not only saw, but enjoyed the Farellys’ first movie, Dumb and Dumber. I didn’t want to see it and I’m not proud of liking it, but it was funny. It was also heads above its fellow Jim Carrey film, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which wasn’t funny and was in truly bad taste. Definitions of "funny" and "bad taste" may be appropriate here: a scrotum caught in a zipper, which Mary features, doesn’t offend me, but a guy maniacally using a plunger on his mouth because he kissed a man, as in Ace Ventura, does. The first is somewhat funny in light of the situation, it being prom night, while the other is simply homophobia run rampant.

So, while there has been a lot of talk about the offensiveness and lack of political correctness to this film, I didn’t really find much to be offended about. The filmmakers were essentially kind in their portrayal of the handicapped and even made the film’s Providence locations look good.

The plot revolves around Mary Jenson, a thin, blond, sports-loving orthopedic surgeon who becomes the love object of stalkers everywhere. Bobby Farelly summarized the film thusly: "You might even call it When Harry Stalked Sally… It’s basically about a couple of guys stalking the same woman." The action begins when Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller), remembering his one aborted prom date with Mary (Diaz), decides he can’t be happy without her and sends private detective Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to find out what’s become of her. Healy becomes obsessed with Mary himself, and everybody goes to Florida to try to win her heart. Hijinks, naturally, ensue.

The hijinks are fairly well thought out, actually, though I don’t want to give the nicely turned ending away. Unfortunately, the ending is too well thought out, since the film lacks the snappy pace that excellent comedies maintain. One scene, in which Ted goes through a classic I-think-we’re-talking-about-one-thing-when-you’re-actually-talking-about-something-else routine (which Seinfeld unfortunately popularized while maintaining the only group of writers to do it well) with the South Carolina police is completely unnecessary and not worth the meager laughs it generates.

The Farellys have put together an amusing summer movie, much more original than Lethal Weapon 4 or the big-budget disaster flicks. The performances are top-notch, particularly Dillon in his scenes with Puffy the dog, and Lee Evans as Mary’s architect-friend Tucker. New England viewers will find plenty of scenes shot in Rhode Island (the Farellys are Cumberland natives) and may recognize Natick, Massachusetts singer Jonathan Richman as the singing Greek chorus. One final note: New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe turned down the cameo the brothers meant for him, so the part went to Greenbay Packer Brett Favre, instead. Drew must’ve been concerned about his image back before his stage-diving days at the Paradise.