Review of There's Something About Mary (1998) by Adam F — 07 May 2014

When it comes to gross-out romantic comedies (which has become a genre now) you have to find that delicate balance between nasty humor that makes you want to close your eyes and run away and that sweet romance that lures you back in. "There's something about Mary" balances itself very well, guaranteeing some big laughs and making for a romantic comedy that's memorable, if not a classic of the genre. In 1985, 16-year-old Ted (Ben Stiller) lands a prom date with the most beautiful girl in school, Mary Jensen (Cameron Diaz). Things are looking great until an unfortunate zipper accident on the night of the dance prevents him from going. While in the hospital, Ted loses contact with Mary and she moves away. Thirteen years later, Ted realizes that he is still in love with her. Ted's best friend Dom (Chris Elliott) convinces him to try and deal with the obsession by finding out what Mary's been up to. He hires private detective Pat Healy (played by Matt Dillon) to track her down. Unfortunately, Healy finds Mary irresistible and lies to Ben in order to make him give up his quest for the woman. Eventually Ted finds out about the lie and journeys to California in order to expose the phoney and win the girl of his dreams.

The beauty of this movie is that the premise is semi-plausible (I've been obsessed with Cameron Diaz myself ever since I saw her in "The Mask") but the humor is totally ridiculous. The brothers Farrelly will do absolutely anything for a laugh and sure, it doesn't all stick but the ones that work will carry you through the bad ones. We've got gross-out humour (including a classic sperm joke with a great payoff), we've got some very amusing moments of comedic confusion (the best of which is when Ted mistakenly falls into a rest stop, a "gathering place for homosexuals" and ends up being accused of murder), some slapstick animal violence and a whole lot of outrageous characters. It's all wrapped together with a Greek chorus. The humor never hampers the romantic element of the stor, which is a huge bonus. Mary is a fully fleshed-out character so she isn't just a pretty face and Ben's got his neuroses but he and Mary are a genuinely good match. This isn't one of those romantic comedies where we get that tired old "boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back". This is something original, the story of a guy who has to take down some phoneys to get to the girl of his dreams. Trouble is, they are not willing to play fair! Yeah it's crude and juvenile at times but you won't care because you will be laughing consistently. (Full-screen theatrical version on Dvd, October 14, 2013).