Review of Me, Myself & Irene (2000) by Harry W — 14 Jan 2014

Bringing Jim Carrey back together with The Farrelly Brothers after they created Dumb and Dumber which is one of the single funniest film ever made is a golden idea.

Although the plot largely retreads elements of Dumb and Dumber since it's essentially a buddy road trip comedy in a more complex context, and many of the jokes are somewhat less refreshing than they once were.

And unfortunately The Farrelly Brothers just can't really identify too much new to bring to the table in Me, Myself and Irene. And while it's all filmed nicely and has plenty of colour, Me, Myself and Irene feels routine on their part. But luckily thanks to the efforts if the cast in the film it maintains a consistent humour.

I mean there's not much too funny about the story since it's about comedic characters in a crime setting, but the setting is interesting enough. Yet strangely the atmosphere of the story never really settles on comedic or dramatic, and the soundtrack largely ensures that. Either way it's rather strange.

But however strange it all is, nothing compares to the quality of the cast.

Jim Carrey is in the role of a seriously complex character in Me, Myself and Irene since he's a character dealing with multiple personality disorder. And as such he has to play two characters with identifiable differences and comedic charisma, which he manages to get right as expected. He nails the physical comedy through his known talent for over-the-top body movements, and his ability to play multiple characters is just refreshing. It's hilarious to see his work as an actor branch out like this in Me, Myself and Irene, and he essentially single handedly makes it a good film.

Renee Zellwegger does her part too by giving a convincing performance with some surprising moments of humour and a genuinely strong chemistry with Jim Carrey as both Charlie and Hank. And she's a sweet presence too.

And the three brothers played by Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee and Jerod Mixon are all absolutely hilarious since the characters are all exceptional intelligent yet they speak with the language of Richard Pryor. The contrast between elements of stereotypical intelligence is absolutely some of the funniest sh*t that The Farrelly Brothers have ever tackled.

Robert Forster is also a good presence because he's always a convincing man of the law, like in Jackie Brown and Olympus Has Fallen.

Richard Jenkin, Chris Cooper and Traylor Howard were all also good.

Lastly, Tony Cox's brief part within the intro of the film is a great kickoff to the beginning of the film and us memorably hilarious.

To summarise, Me, Myself and Irene is consistently funny because of Jim Carrey's efforts and he makes up for the shortcomings of the story and direction.