Mankato
06-23-2000, 07:44 PM
Laughing 'Myself' Silly
Jim Carrey discovers himself in the Farrely Brothers latest film...
Jim Carrey has done some things that are considered outrageous to children. For instance kicking his own ass in a scene during ‘Liar Liar’. Or practically everything he did in ‘Ace Ventura’. So it’s only natural that when he takes his comic style to an adult and dare I say mature level it should be more outrageous, and even more hilarious. He proves just that in his return to comedy with the Farrely Brothers latest film ‘Me, Myself and Irene’.
‘Irene’ is, to say the lease, not an excellent film. It’s not a masterpiece and should not be treated as such when viewing. ‘Irene’ lacks substance in it’s story and characters but makes up for that with it’s immensely enormous laugh ratio that exceeds ‘South Park’ or any comedy you’re likely to watch. The public is going to flock to see this film over, and over again and that’s entirely necessary. ‘Irene’ is with out a doubt the funniest film of the last century.
Does this mean it’s the greatest comedy of the last century? No, of course not, far from it. ‘Irene’ packs in a great deal of laughs, and the gags will keep you on the aisle laughing until you are forced to the hospital on accounts of a lung bursting. The movie will make your face turn blue, and will make your belly turn red. However the end result in an overall attempt ends up only being a fair movie.
The plot sounds like something taken from a lot of 80’s flicks, a movie that deals with crooked cops and a couple on the run together. However the Farrely’s know this and throw in the split personality gag to make your viewing experience more enjoyable and pleasurable.
Jim Carrey plays Charlie a person who the “Jed Clampet-esque” voice over would call “A gentle and nice fellow”. Charlie has a problem; he avoids confrontation with a big goofy smile. His wife cheats on him and the result are his 3 black babies, still a smile. His neighbor’s dog does his business on his lawn, still a smile. Local folks laugh at him when he tries to enforce the law, still a smile.
Charlie then has a solution, and his name is Hank who is his Mr. Hyde. Charlie lets release of all the anger he has ever had built up in him with Hank who spits it out faster then Robert Downey Junior’s time out of jail. The result is priceless, Carrey’s performance during these scenes are easily some of the best work he’s ever put out on film.
The rest of the plot is tied up quickly because of the Farrely’s need to shock the audience in a string of gross out jokes. Irene Waters, played by the lovely Renee Zellwegger, got in trouble at the expense of her boyfriend who we only see in like 5 minutes of the movie. Then it twists turns into a story about crooked cops who try to hunt down Irene and Charlie/Hank while they are on the road together. Needless to say that the ending to the film is predictable by the minute we see Irene and Charlie driving up to their destination.
We laugh at the jokes made in the film because they are so unbelievable the boggle the mind. There is a line though when you are making gross out comedy. If you make it to the edge of the line without going over you have a great comedy that balances out with all the story substances. This was the result of the infinite superior ‘There’s Something About Mary’. It gave us a nice array of characters, with a great plot to dance to. It didn’t rely just on its gags.
However, when watching ‘Irene’ it feels like the movie has stumbled over the line and fell off the cliff just ahead of it. While you are watching the movie the Farrely’s are actually crashing and burning with their array of gross out humor. However the jokes are just too funny to deny and we accept them, and we embrace how hilarious the movie is. When doing this to the line everything else in the movie becomes less important, and the filmmakers spend their time trying to top each joke they have just made.
If the Farrely Brothers would have spent as much time on the plot and character development as Jim Carrey spent on getting into his character then perhaps we might have been viewing a timeless comedic classic. However, instead we just have a no-brainer comedy in the tradition of their first film ‘Dumb and Dumber’. At least the jokes paid off in the end.
7/10
I'm interested in hearing all of your opinions about the movie, or about my review... so lets get BUSY!
/ubb/smile.gif
Jim Carrey discovers himself in the Farrely Brothers latest film...
Jim Carrey has done some things that are considered outrageous to children. For instance kicking his own ass in a scene during ‘Liar Liar’. Or practically everything he did in ‘Ace Ventura’. So it’s only natural that when he takes his comic style to an adult and dare I say mature level it should be more outrageous, and even more hilarious. He proves just that in his return to comedy with the Farrely Brothers latest film ‘Me, Myself and Irene’.
‘Irene’ is, to say the lease, not an excellent film. It’s not a masterpiece and should not be treated as such when viewing. ‘Irene’ lacks substance in it’s story and characters but makes up for that with it’s immensely enormous laugh ratio that exceeds ‘South Park’ or any comedy you’re likely to watch. The public is going to flock to see this film over, and over again and that’s entirely necessary. ‘Irene’ is with out a doubt the funniest film of the last century.
Does this mean it’s the greatest comedy of the last century? No, of course not, far from it. ‘Irene’ packs in a great deal of laughs, and the gags will keep you on the aisle laughing until you are forced to the hospital on accounts of a lung bursting. The movie will make your face turn blue, and will make your belly turn red. However the end result in an overall attempt ends up only being a fair movie.
The plot sounds like something taken from a lot of 80’s flicks, a movie that deals with crooked cops and a couple on the run together. However the Farrely’s know this and throw in the split personality gag to make your viewing experience more enjoyable and pleasurable.
Jim Carrey plays Charlie a person who the “Jed Clampet-esque” voice over would call “A gentle and nice fellow”. Charlie has a problem; he avoids confrontation with a big goofy smile. His wife cheats on him and the result are his 3 black babies, still a smile. His neighbor’s dog does his business on his lawn, still a smile. Local folks laugh at him when he tries to enforce the law, still a smile.
Charlie then has a solution, and his name is Hank who is his Mr. Hyde. Charlie lets release of all the anger he has ever had built up in him with Hank who spits it out faster then Robert Downey Junior’s time out of jail. The result is priceless, Carrey’s performance during these scenes are easily some of the best work he’s ever put out on film.
The rest of the plot is tied up quickly because of the Farrely’s need to shock the audience in a string of gross out jokes. Irene Waters, played by the lovely Renee Zellwegger, got in trouble at the expense of her boyfriend who we only see in like 5 minutes of the movie. Then it twists turns into a story about crooked cops who try to hunt down Irene and Charlie/Hank while they are on the road together. Needless to say that the ending to the film is predictable by the minute we see Irene and Charlie driving up to their destination.
We laugh at the jokes made in the film because they are so unbelievable the boggle the mind. There is a line though when you are making gross out comedy. If you make it to the edge of the line without going over you have a great comedy that balances out with all the story substances. This was the result of the infinite superior ‘There’s Something About Mary’. It gave us a nice array of characters, with a great plot to dance to. It didn’t rely just on its gags.
However, when watching ‘Irene’ it feels like the movie has stumbled over the line and fell off the cliff just ahead of it. While you are watching the movie the Farrely’s are actually crashing and burning with their array of gross out humor. However the jokes are just too funny to deny and we accept them, and we embrace how hilarious the movie is. When doing this to the line everything else in the movie becomes less important, and the filmmakers spend their time trying to top each joke they have just made.
If the Farrely Brothers would have spent as much time on the plot and character development as Jim Carrey spent on getting into his character then perhaps we might have been viewing a timeless comedic classic. However, instead we just have a no-brainer comedy in the tradition of their first film ‘Dumb and Dumber’. At least the jokes paid off in the end.
7/10
I'm interested in hearing all of your opinions about the movie, or about my review... so lets get BUSY!
/ubb/smile.gif