THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
The plot begins in 1985, as Mary Jensen (Diaz) and Ted Stroehmann (Ben
Stiller) are about to graduate from high school in Rhode Island. Though
Ted is a goofy-looking nerd with braces and Mary is the most fabulous babe
in school, she likes him because he takes up for her mentally challenged
brother Warren (W. Earl Brown), in a fight with a bully. Ted gets a fat
lip, but Mary asks him out to the prom. But the plans miscarry after a painful,
zipper-related accident.
Cut to thirteen years later (1998): Ted has never forgotten Mary, and
feels he must try to seek her out. His friend (Chris Elliott) introduces
him to a private eye named Pat Healy (Matt Dillon), and though Ted is a
little queasy about the plan, Pat travels to Miami to find her. When he
does, he finds her so beautiful and charming (and still unattached) that
he falls for her himself. She is a wealthy, successful doctor who still
takes care of her brother Warren, among other handicapped people, for whom
she has a soft spot. The only thing missing in her life is romance. Soon
Ted and Pat are in a race to win her over, along with a local would-be suitor
(Lee Evans).
Though the plot of this film is trivial, what makes it succeed is the
sheer outlandishness of the comedy. Several quirky characters appear and
disappear, and Ted and Mary turn out to be the only "normal" people
on the screen. There are times when the humor really scrapes the bottom
of the barrel (some people will be offended), including not only
toilet humor and sexual innuendo, but racial jokes, humor about the mentally
disadvantaged, fake nudity, and an animal-abuse sequence that had the audience
howling. But as with Mel Brooks, the Farrely Bros. can be excused because
it's just so darned funny. And don't leave before the credits are finished,
because a lot of leftover humor is shown as they roll, with the cast practicing
all sorts of pranks and silliness.
There's Something About Mary is funny the way Blazing Saddles was funny. You have to be in the mood for gross jokes and offensive subject matter. But if you are, it's not to be missed. ****