Review of There's Something About Mary (1998) by Kyle20Ellis — 28 Mar 2022

I do love comedy, some of my favourite films/shows are comedy based. But I have seen There's Something About Mary three times now, and I didn't like/wasn't engaged by it either time.

I do like how it looks, the film does look striking, I like the soundtrack, there was one joke that I was amused at(the one in the bathroom) and the performances of Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz are good.

However, apart from one joke, I just didn't find There's Something About Mary funny. The Farrelly Brothers I know are notorious for their lack of subtlety, but I was expecting something funnier considering the reputation it has. The script is full of dialogue that is rather juvenile and tasteless and the gags are puerile and fall flat more than they score. I know people will say this is what makes the film funny, I respect that, it's just not my kind of humour, that's all. The premise is simple, I have no problem with that. When the story is this thin and this predictable, I am not so kind. The film feels unevenly paced too, then again it probably has a lot to do with the lack of laughs from my experience, and the characters I don't care about.

Overall, I wanted to like it, but it didn't work for me. Maybe I'll see it again some day and pray that my reaction will be different then.