Devoid of anything (full stop)

Rating: 1/10 (14 May 2006)

The first time I watched it, I sat through it with my arms crossed waiting for something remotely funny to happen - and it never did! The fact that so many people found this funny goes to show you how thoughtless and pathetic the general public's taste in comedy really is. Most of the comedy was simply dumb: the fish hook in the face, restarting the dogs heart, ... all thoughtless and stupid.
In fact, much of the comedy was so brainless that it sunk to the levels of Australia's Funniest Home Videos (actually, that's not a fair comparison because I've actually got a few genuine laughs from Australia's Funniest Home Videos). Comedy succeeds when it is creative.... and there is nothing particularly creative about a scene where a guy getting his genitals caught in his zipper. The script-writers must have spent days thinking up that one! And on that topic, let me add that the crudeness in this film simply did not work, mostly because it was also uncreative, yet relied upon (by the film-makers) to produce memorable side-splitting scenes. And this film was a spectacular failure in this regard. The jizz hanging off the ear and the genitals in the zipper made it feel as though the film-makers were trying to "shock" me into laughing rather than giving me something genuinely funny to laugh at. It didn't work for me. Films like Team America:World Police managed to use crudeness incredibly well because it is original, unexpected, but runs well in the background of an excellent and intelligent satire. It isn't the centerpiece of the film's comedy. However, in There's Something About Mary, I felt that the shocking crudeness took center stage. But since the acting and dialog didn't give me any genuine laughs, what's the difference?
There's something about mary is a simply a cheap and worthless attempt hyping a nothing story with profanity and unfunny 'shock-the-audience-into-laughing' scenes. How it gained popularity and praise is beyond my comprehension.
And I'm still waiting to see a Ben Stiller film that I actually like!