There's Something About Nothing...

Rating: 7/10 (12 December 2002)

I don't understand all the hype about this film. Okay, so it's irreverant. That doesn't always mean funny.
The film starts out in the mid-eighties, when geeky high-schooler Ted Stroehmann (played by Ben Stiller) finds the girl of his dreams -- Mary (Cameron Diaz). After being nice to Mary's mentally deformed brother, Ted is asked by Mary to go to the prom with her. But due to some "unfortunate incidents," Ted is unable to take her, and we warp to 1997/8.

Ted keeps thinking about Mary, so his friend (Chris Elliot) gets a Private Investigator (Matt Dillon) to track down Mary.
Pretty soon, everyone is heading head-over-heels regarding Mary, and a predictable ending sums up the film.
Okay, here's the review: the film started out great. I enjoyed all the jokes in the beginning, and was not bothered by the politically incorrect jokes that most people who hated this film were offended by.
But, once we warp to '97, the jokes start to fall flat -- and plain disgusting -- and I wondered why audiences and critics around the globe loved this film. Another big turn-off for me was the "cleaning the tubes" scene. We didn't need visuals, Farrelly brothers.
I did chuckle throughout the film, but I expected "Mary" to be the best comedy of the year. What a let-down.
I was the rare person who enjoyed "Dumb and Dumber." It rides along the line of crude and normal, and never passes the line. "Mary," however, crosses the line shamelessly, and never gets back on track. It just keeps slipping farther and farther into immature, eighth grade, gross-out humor. The fact the Peter and Bobby Farrelly have to subject audiences to such disgusting visuals and gags is disappointing, and I think they should be ashamed of themselves.
I like Ben Stiller, but this film was just too raunchy and unfunny to enjoy his performance. I could tell he tried to make it funny, but it just failed. I saw on AMC that he didn't want to do the "cleaning the tubes" scene because he was afraid it would ruin his career. I don't blame him.
"Mary" overall has some laughs, but not enough, and despite being crude or not, it still is not an outrageously funny film, and not the best of 1998.

2.5/5 stars --
John Ulmer