Good... but a little disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (12 September 1998)

This movie is probably the surprise hit of the summer, which I'm sure is due in part to it's advertising campaign. Don't get me wrong, it was a funny movie, but I have to say I walked out of the theater a little disappointed. The reason? The television commercials for 'Mary' were way too revealing, in other words I had seen almost all of the funny parts on tv before even seeing the film (the zipper, the dog, the hair gel, to name a few). It was like knowing the outcome of a mystery story before even reading the book. While the ads did get me to spend some bucks to see the film (the ultimate goal of the ads), I sat there thinking "ok, I've already seen this part, show me something new". Unfortunately, there were very few of those "new" parts. Cameron Diaz is definitely the high point of the film. She is a very good comedic actress. Of course it doesn't hurt that she is also very beautiful too. I look for her to really become one of the better actresses around in the coming years. Matt Dillon was also surprisingly good as a sleazy private eye. A low point was the totally unfunny Chris Elliot. I'm not sure if it was the character he played, or himself, but anytime he was on the screen it detracted from the story.
All-in-all, I would rate this film about a 6 out of 10.