There 's Something About Mary - wikipedia There 's Something About Mary There 's Something About Mary Theatrical release poster Directed by Peter Farrelly Bobby Farrelly Produced by Michael Steinberg Bradley Thomas Charles B. Wessler Frank Beddor Screenplay by Ed Decter John J. Strauss Peter Farrelly Bobby Farrelly Story by Ed Decter John J. Strauss Starring Cameron Diaz Matt Dillon Ben Stiller Lee Evans Chris Elliott Narrated by Jonathan Richman Music by Jonathan Richman Cinematography Mark Irwin Edited by Christopher Greenbury Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date July 15, 1998 ( 1998 - 07 - 15 ) Running time 119 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $23 million Box office $369.9 million There 's Something About Mary is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly. It stars Cameron Diaz as the title character with Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott, and Matt Dillon all playing men who are in love with Mary and vying for her affections. The film was placed 27th in the American Film Institute 's 100 Years, 100 Laughs : America 's Funniest Movies, a list of the 100 funniest movies of the 20th century. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the fourth - greatest comedy film of all time. Diaz won a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, an MTV Movie Award for Best Performance, an American Comedy Award for Best Actress, a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Actress. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. It won 4 out of 8 MTV Movie Awards, including Best Movie. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Soundtrack 6 References 7 External links Plot In 1985, 16 - year - old high school student Ted Stroehmann ( Ben Stiller ) is about to go on a prom date with his dream girl Mary Jensen ( Cameron Diaz ) when he gets his penis stuck in a zipper. He is hospitalized when it bleeds after being unzipped, which cancels their date. Ted subsequently loses contact with Mary. Thirteen years later, in 1998, 29 - year - old Ted is still in love with Mary. On the advice of his best friend Dom Woganowski ( Chris Elliott ), he hires a private detective named Pat Healy ( Matt Dillon ) to track her down. Pat discovers that she is an orthopedic surgeon living in Miami with her friend, Magda, and instantly falls in love with Mary as well. He lies to Ted about her, saying she is overweight with four children and confined to a wheelchair, to discourage him from having any contact with her. Pat resorts to lying, cheating, stalking, and drugging Magda 's dog to win Mary over, but is exposed by Mary 's architect friend, Tucker ( Lee Evans ), who is heavily reliant on crutches and speaks with an English accent. Pat later feels guilty about lying to Mary and reveals his true self to her. Enraged after overhearing Tucker subsequently slander him as a murderer, Pat tails Tucker and discovers him to be a fraud himself : he is an able - bodied, entirely American pizza delivery boy named Norm Phipps who is also in love with Mary. For years, Norm has been driving away potential rivals through slander, including one oft - mentioned suitor referred to only as `` Brett. '' Meanwhile, Ted decides he still wants to reconnect with Mary and, assisted by Dom, drives down to Florida and discovers the truth about her. Ted seems to have won Mary 's love, until an anonymous letter exposes his connection with Pat, and she breaks contact with him. Ted confronts Pat and Norm, and Mary is accosted by Dom, who is revealed to be her ex-boyfriend `` Woogie '' that she has a restraining order against. When Mary is finally together with all of her deceitful suitors, Ted realizes that the only one who did not resort to lying and manipulation to win Mary was Brett, who he learns is NFL quarterback Brett Favre. After reuniting Brett and Mary, Ted leaves tearfully until Mary catches up to Ted, saying that `` I 'd be happiest with you ''. The film concludes with the two engaging in a kiss while a guitarist ( Jonathan Richman ), who has periodically narrated the story in song throughout the film, is accidentally shot by Magda 's boyfriend, who was trying to shoot Ted so he could win over Mary. Cast Cameron Diaz as Mary Jensen / Matthews Ben Stiller as Ted Stroehmann Matt Dillon as Patrick `` Pat '' Healy Chris Elliott as Dom `` Woogie '' Woganowski Lee Evans as Tucker / Norm Phipps Lin Shaye as Magda Jeffrey Tambor as Sully Markie Post as Sheila Jensen, Mary 's mother Keith David as Charlie, Mary 's stepfather W. Earl Brown as Warren Jensen, Mary 's mentally disabled brother Sarah Silverman as Brenda, Mary 's sarcastic and obnoxious best friend Khandi Alexander as Joanie Willie Garson as Dr. Zit Face / high school pal Bob Richard Tyson as Detective Krevoy Rob Moran as Detective Stabler Jonathan Richman as the singing narrator Steve Sweeney as Policeman Lenny Clarke as Fireman Harland Williams ( uncredited ) as Hitchhiker Richard Jenkins ( uncredited ) as Psychiatrist Brett Favre plays himself in a cameo that was originally written - for and offered to NFL quarterback Steve Young, but he turned the role down due to the film 's coarse nature and was replaced with Favre. Bill Murray was considered for the role of Pat Healy, but the Farrelly brothers thought he was too old for the part. Production The movie was filmed in Miami, Florida. The makeup effects and animatronic animal effects were the handiwork of Makeup Effects Designer Tony Gardner and Alterian, Inc. Reception This sleeper hit was the highest - grossing comedy of 1998 in North America as well as the fourth - highest - grossing film of the year. It also catapulted Diaz and Stiller into the limelight. The film made $369 million worldwide, including $176 million in the U.S. alone. The film received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 83 % based on 83 reviews, and an average rating of 7 / 10, with the consensus : `` There 's Something About Mary proves that unrelentingly, unabashedly puerile humor does n't necessarily come at the expense of a film 's heart. '' Metacritic gives the film a score of 69 out of 100 based on reviews from 29 critics. Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars, stating `` What a blessed relief is laughter. It flies in the face of manners, values, political correctness and decorum. It exposes us for what we are, the only animal with a sense of humor. '' Gene Siskel ranked the film No. 9 on his 10 Best films of 1998 ( the final `` best of '' list he did before passing away ). The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists : 2000 : AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Laughs -- # 27 2002 : AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Passions -- Nominated 2007 : AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movies ( 10th Anniversary Edition ) -- Nominated 2008 : AFI 's 10 Top 10 -- Nominated Romantic Comedy Film Soundtrack `` There 's Something About Mary '' ( Jonathan Richman ) -- 1 : 47 `` How to Survive a Broken Heart '' ( Ben Lee ) -- 2 : 47 `` Every Day Should Be a Holiday '' ( The Dandy Warhols ) -- 4 : 02 `` Everything Shines '' ( The Push Stars ) -- 2 : 27 `` This Is the Day '' ( Ivy ) -- 3 : 33 `` Is She Really Going Out with Him ? '' ( Joe Jackson ) -- 3 : 36 `` True Love Is Not Nice '' ( Jonathan Richman ) -- 2 : 13 `` History Repeating '' ( The Propellerheads feat. Shirley Bassey ) -- 4 : 04 `` If I Could Talk I 'd Tell You '' ( The Lemonheads ) -- 2 : 51 `` Mary 's Prayer '' ( Danny Wilson ) -- 3 : 54 `` Margo 's Waltz '' ( Lloyd Cole ) -- 4 : 01 `` Speed Queen '' ( Zuba ) -- 3 : 44 `` Let Her Go Into the Darkness '' ( Jonathan Richman ) -- 1 : 19 `` Build Me Up Buttercup '' ( The Foundations ) -- 2 : 59 References Jump up ^ `` THERE 'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY ( 15 ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. 1998 - 07 - 22. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 02. ^ Jump up to : There 's Something About Mary at Box Office Mojo Jump up ^ `` Do n't Forget : ' There 's Something About Mary ' ''. Yahoo ! Movies. February 23, 2011. Jump up ^ Locke, Greg W. ( 26 August 2011 ). `` The Top 25 Roles Bill Murray Did n't Take ''. Retrieved 25 May 2015. Jump up ^ Evans, Bradford ( 17 February 2011 ). `` The Lost Roles of Bill Murray ''. Retrieved 25 May 2015. Jump up ^ `` There 's Something About Mary ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2010 - 03 - 23. Jump up ^ `` There 's Something About Mary ''. Metacritic. CBS. Jump up ^ Roger Ebert. `` There 's Something About Mary ''. Chicago Sun - Times. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Laughs '' ( PDF ). American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 17. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Passions Nominees '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 17. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees ( 10th Anniversary Edition ) '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 17. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 10 Top 10 Nominees '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original on 2011 - 07 - 16. Retrieved 2016 - 08 - 19. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) Jump up ^ `` There 's Something about Mary Soundtrack ''. Soundtrackinfo.com. 1998 - 07 - 14. Retrieved 2013 - 01 - 15. External links Film in the United States portal 1990s portal Miami portal Comedy portal Wikiquote has quotations related to : There 's Something About Mary There 's Something About Mary on IMDb There 's Something About Mary at the TCM Movie Database There 's Something About Mary at AllMovie There 's Something About Mary at Box Office Mojo There 's Something About Mary at Rotten Tomatoes There 's Something About Mary at Metacritic Films directed by the Farrelly brothers Peter Farrelly Bobby Farrelly Dumb and Dumber ( 1994 ) Kingpin ( 1996 ) There 's Something About Mary ( 1998 ) Me, Myself & Irene ( 2000 ) Osmosis Jones ( 2001 ) Shallow Hal ( 2001 ) Stuck on You ( 2003 ) Fever Pitch ( 2005 ) The Heartbreak Kid ( 2007 ) Hall Pass ( 2011 ) The Three Stooges ( 2012 ) Dumb and Dumber To ( 2014 ) MTV Movie Award for Movie of the Year Best Movie Terminator 2 : Judgment Day ( 1992 ) A Few Good Men ( 1993 ) Menace II Society ( 1994 ) Pulp Fiction ( 1995 ) Seven ( 1996 ) Scream ( 1997 ) Titanic ( 1998 ) There 's Something About Mary ( 1999 ) The Matrix ( 2000 ) Gladiator ( 2001 ) The Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring ( 2002 ) The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers ( 2003 ) The Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King ( 2004 ) Napoleon Dynamite ( 2005 ) Wedding Crashers ( 2006 ) Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man 's Chest ( 2007 ) Transformers ( 2008 ) Twilight ( 2009 ) The Twilight Saga : New Moon ( 2010 ) The Twilight Saga : Eclipse ( 2011 ) Movie of the Year The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn -- Part 1 ( 2012 ) The Avengers ( 2013 ) The Hunger Games : Catching Fire ( 2014 ) The Fault in Our Stars ( 2015 ) Star Wars : The Force Awakens ( 2016 ) Beauty and the Beast ( 2017 ) Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie -- Comedy There 's Something About Mary ( 1999 ) Austin Powers : The Spy Who Shagged Me ( 2000 ) Miss Congeniality ( 2001 ) American Pie 2 ( 2002 ) Sweet Home Alabama ( 2003 ) Shrek 2 ( 2004 ) Napoleon Dynamite ( 2005 ) She 's the Man ( 2006 ) Knocked Up ( 2007 ) Juno ( 2008 ) Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian ( 2009 ) Date Night ( 2010 ) Bad Teacher ( 2011 ) 21 Jump Street ( 2012 ) Pitch Perfect ( 2013 ) The Other Woman ( 2014 ) Pitch Perfect 2 ( 2015 ) Ride Along 2 ( 2016 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=There%27s_Something_About_Mary&oldid=802086706 '' Categories : 1998 films English - language films 1990s romantic comedy films 1990s sex comedy films American films American romantic comedy films American sex comedy films American slapstick comedy films Films directed by the Farrelly brothers Films set in 1985 Films set in 1998 Films set in Florida Films set in Miami Films set in Rhode Island Films shot in Miami Films shot in Rhode Island 20th Century Fox films Hidden categories : CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Català Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Emiliàn e rumagnòl Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Íslenska Italiano עברית Latina Lietuvių Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Plattdüütsch Polski Português Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 23 September 2017, at 22 : 33. 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Question: who sings in there's something about mary
Answer: Jonathan Richman