R E V I E W S
Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
Starring: Jim
Carrey, Renee Zellweger, Chris Cooper, Robert Forster Studio: 20th Century Fox Review Posted: 7.8.00 Rating: 7/10 First Viewing: 9/10 Subsequent: 6/10
By Stephen.
"Gross out humor can't top gimmick plot"
What is a good rule of thumb to remember when watching the new The Farrelly Brothers movie Me, Myself & Irene? See it only once. That's the problem I was faced with. I actually saw it couple months in advance. The day of its actual release arrives and I went to the theater with my friends to see it again (they haven't seen it before). So I'm sitting there in the seat, getting prepared to be grossed out. As that is mainly what this film does to you. Then it was over. And I stood there, completely dumbfounded. I couldn't believe how 'not good' it was anymore. Good thing I didn't pay for it. That way I didn't waste my money. So, for all of you out there, if you really liked it the first time, then god bless you all. But avoid seeing it again because most of the jokes don't really work. However, it might just be me that thinks this way.
Anyway, Me Myself & Irene teams up Jim Carrey and the Farrelly Brothers again. After the success of Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carrey's career got a huge start. And so did the Farrelly's career. But it hadn't really started in a major way until their huge success with There's Something About Mary. After a couple of dramatic movies, Jim Carrey is back in the comedy genre and it feels good to see him in it.
Charlie Baileygates (Carrey) is a Rhode Island State Trooper. He just got married to Layla (Howard), his love for many years. Once home, he gets into a fight with limousine driver Shonte (T. Cox), who's half the size of Charlie. Layla falls in love with the short guy and soon takes off with him, leaving Charlie with their three black kids; Jamaal, Shonte Jr., and Lee Harvey. Years pass and they're in their 20s. You would think they're kids who won't know anything but it turns out they're very smart. Which brings me to the point that they almost steal the movie from Carrey as they were just hilarious, especially Jamaal (Anthony Anderson).
The challenge Jim Carrey faced in this movie was to play two different characters. Charlie is the nice cop who always lets stuff go by. Hank is arrogant, crude, repulsive, offensive, careless, and one sexist pig motherfucker. Hank is the development of Charlie's disorder; split personality. Throughout the movie, we get to see both of the characters. Sometimes they're interacting with themselves, which was Jim Carrey leading a conversation by only himself. There's nothing wrong with that. He even beat himself up a couple of times. But the fact remains that sometimes it got confusing who was actually talking. Charlie or Hank.
Although, the story doesn't really start until Irene (Zellweger) shows up at the police station. Her background isn't really all that interesting and doesn't really power the story too much. Charlie's superiors order him to bring Irene back to upstate New York where she supposedly broke a law. On the road, Charlie and Hank both fall for Irene. But before any close relations can start, Charlie shoots a cow lying on the street. A scene they cut was Charlie and Irene drove down that same road and came across a tractor. The driver asked them if they saw his cow. He told them that if they saw her, they should ignore her as she just likes to take a nap in the street. Ouch! He killed he for nothing.
I guess that was a bit too mean, but so was another scene that was actually new. It involved Hank trashing a car that was parked in the handicapped zone. The driver got out and was not handicapped at all. It pissed off Hank and he literally trashed the car. Then the driver comes back with an old man, and it becomes apparent the car belonged to the old, handicapped man. To me, that was just as mean as killing the cow. I would say the DVD will include the deleted scene (among others).
Later on in the film, Irene's ex-boyfriend hires Lt. Gerke (Cooper) to bring her down. It becomes obvious he's the bad guy. Soon, Charlie, Hank and Irene find themselves on the run. On this run, a lot of funny shit starts to happen. Charlie apparently masturbated in bed with a mug shot of Irene next to him, his other side used a dildo for own pleasure and fell down a short cliff, and much more. However, the supposed run from the bad guys soon becomes somewhat dumb and pointless.
The finale here is funny indeed. Charlie loses his thumb, but it's not really satisfying. I mean, how long can you watch Carrey beat himself up? Time would only matter if it was done in a stupid way, but Carrey pulled it off superbly. Nevertheless, it felt like the movie didn't really end. Only for you people who sat through the entire end credits will find out what happened to Charlie's thumb.
Overall, Me Myself & Irene was very funny. The rating is what it is because the second time I saw it, I realized it wasn't all 'that' great anymore. Don't expect to see There's Something About Mary in this one. It doesn't really live up to its hype.
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