There's nothing funny about Mary

Rating: 4/10 (11 June 2000)

An astoundingly, excruciatingly unfunny movie. This film makes "Dumb and Dumber" look like "Citizen Kane." It has only one mildly humorous scene (Ben Stiller vs. the dog), but otherwise the immense popularity of this movie is absolutely baffling. Stiller is not adept at physical comedy, Cameron Diaz is beautiful but not adept at any style of comedy, and Chris Elliott is wasted in a role that is unnecessary to the plot. Others may applaud the "gross out" humor, but I didn't find much of either. Making fun of the physically or mentally challenged has a long, distinguished history, and other films have done a much better job of it. As for funny situations revolving around bodily functions, this doesn't even rank up there with some of Mel Brooks's worst efforts. Unfortunately, movies are now being advertised as being "funnier than There's Something About Mary." That's certainly setting the bar pretty low.