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Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
This scatological comedy will score at the box-office since there's
definitely an audience for the gross gags and toilet jokes but it's no
"There's Something About Mary." Jim Carrey plays Charlie, a mild-mannered
Rhode Island state trooper suffering from a split-personality
disorder. Flashback 18 years to when his wife left him for the brainy,
vertically-challenged limo driver (Tony Cox) who fathered their
African-American triplets whom Carrey has raised as a proud, loving father.
The boys become rowdy, jive-talking geniuses (Jerod Mixon, Anthony
Anderson, Mongo Brownlee) but, having repressed his anger and resentment
too long, Charlie's suddenly got company - a foul-mouthed, aggressive
alter ego named Hank. And they've both fallen for Renee Zellweger, a
feisty, quirky gal who's on-the-lam from shady EPA investigators (Chris
Cooper, Richard Jenkins) in a pointless plot. In the Jekyll-Hyde
transformation, "Rip Van Wussy" Carrey cavorts and contorts, much to the
amazement of his sympathetic supervisor (Robert Forster) and a psychotic
albino (Michael Bowman) who joins the road adventure. Directed and written
by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, plus Michael Cerrone, unfortunately this
romantic farce lacks the sweetness and outrageous fun of the Farrelly's
earlier films. But they're still pushing the envelope of bad taste,
including a redefinition of "hanky-panky" involving a rubber appliance,
chicken-abuse, cow-shooting, reprising Woody Harrelson's milk-mustache
from "Kingpin," and a unique marriage proposal. And the end credits are
novel, citing each and every performer. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1
to 10, "Me, Myself and Irene" is a crass, raunchy 4. Like Charlie, this
movie is origami - it folds under pressure.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
