A second viewing was definitely better for me than the first, but I still don't exactly get its reputation

Rating: 6/10 (19 July 2011)

This Farrelly brothers comedy was a huge success, and I clearly remember knowing about it and seeing that famous cover image of Cameron Diaz in the role of Mary back in 1998, but I was too young for R-rated movies at the time. I finally saw "There's Something About Mary" for the first time early last year, and knowing how popular it was, I had pretty high expectations, but was REALLY let down! I thought it was easily the most overrated comedy I had ever seen, and didn't get why it had gotten so much praise! After that, I had no intention of watching it again. I just wrote a bad review of it and then moved on. However, I recently decided to give it another try, though I wasn't expecting it to be that much better than the first time. I think it turned out to be above average for me this time, which was more than I expected.
In 1985, Ted is a high school student and has a crush on a popular girl named Mary. He gets a date to go to the prom with her, but unfortunately, after a terrible zipper accident at Mary's house, the date is cut short! Ted has to go to the hospital before he gets to go to the prom with his new girlfriend. Thirteen years later, he hasn't seen Mary since that ambulance took him away, but still can't get her off his mind. He is still in love with her, so he hires a private investigator named Pat Healy to find her and get information about her for him. Pat discovers that Mary is now an orthopedic surgeon living in Miami. She lives with her significantly older roommate, Magda, and a Border Terrier dog named Puffer. It turns out that Ted is in luck, as Mary is still single as well, but Pat finds himself falling in love with her. He lies to Ted about her so he can win her heart without any trouble, and it turns out Ted really shouldn't have hired this guy!
Even during my second viewing, I was only finding occasional mildly amusing parts around the beginning. I didn't find Mary's mentally handicapped brother, Warren, being assaulted after being tricked into saying, "Have you seen my wiener?" very funny, and still didn't the second time, which was not surprising. I also still just didn't find Warren to be a very funny character. The first BIG laugh I found the second time was Mary's stepfather pulling Ted's leg at the door, and I remember finding that funny the first time as well. It's also funny when Ted is seen urinating through the window, but this leads to the genital/zipper accident, which I found more painful to watch than anything I had ever seen in a comedy before! I'm not sure exactly why, since I had previously seen male genital injuries in comedy, but maybe it's because the one here was longer than any I had seen before, and I found that it got increasingly uncomfortable up to the "We've got a bleeder" quote! The second time, I knew it was coming, so it wasn't nearly as bad, but it was still another part I didn't find very funny. After that, I found some good laughs occasionally during my second viewing, but was still finding the film boring for the most part and no more than average, even though I was definitely laughing more than I did the first time. Like the first time, I still thought the sex soliciting scene was pretty lame. Eventually, however, I found that the plot somehow got more entertaining the second time I watched this 1998 romantic comedy. I even found the semen hair gel segment pretty funny, and I don't recall finding it funny at all the first time!
After two viewings of this hit romantic comedy from the controversial Farrelly brothers, I still can't say I understand all the high praise, but after seeing it a second time, I can't call it a bad movie anymore, nor can I even call it a mediocre movie, even if I still think it comes close to that. Even though Ted getting his genitals caught in his zipper still didn't amuse me too much the second time, and I still found the close-up of it unsettling (good thing that shot is VERY brief), I don't quite despise that part as much as I used to. It is now another comedy I can refer to as a mixed blessing. Since "There's Something About Mary" is from Peter and Bobby Farrelly, you're absolutely right if you assume that it's very raunchy, often juvenile, and irreverent, and as popular as it is, it could easily disgust many viewers. I don't think the movie is NEARLY as funny as maybe most others who have seen it do, but won't just advise everyone to just skip it, either.