There's something about the '90s, huh?

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 2008)

I was about 13 or 14 when my family and I checked this flick out at the theater (I have hip folks, what can I say!). Zippers, hair-gel, Ben Stiller, and that crazy bro. Mary had - it's the late '90s, so put on your zoot suit, and pull a comb through your coal-black hair! Much of "Something About Mary's" humor is about "sticky" situations, and I mean this literally and figuratively. . . It's crude (what other movie ends with the dialogue, "I was only bonin' you to get to Mary?"), you bet - but it also has a charming good-naturedness about it that later, more cynical exercises in gross-out comedy (i.e. the "American Pie" trilogy) would lack. In fact, remember that guy from high school who was always trying way too hard to be the class clown? "American Pie," and especially its sequels, are like that guy. His freshness wore out quickly, and he eventually became a self-conscious parody of himself. The plot of "Mary" essentially revolves around a group of love-hungry boobs who desperately want to hook up with Mary. Stiller was her high-school prom-date; Chris Elliot was her college boyfriend, etc. Each guy tries to sabotage the other guys, and Mary is stuck in the middle of their kooky antics. Simple? Yes - but "Mary's" not supposed to be a weighty Oscar juggernaut steeped in critic-baiting societal metaphors - it's supposed to be fun. And trust me, it totally succeeds, here. So, why should you check out "There's Something About Mary" now, instead of the more recent "Pie" movies, and such? "Mary" goes down like a bubbly can of sparkling Cherry Coke (or Surge, if you remember that! Damn, that was good stuff!), complete with a nostalgic buzz. Think blue skies, and an optimistic, pre-Bush America. "Pie," and recent movies like it, go down like hard swallows from a plastic bottle of some over-syruppy, hyper-commericalized energy drink. Think smart-allecky smirks, and greasy foreheads. Which would you prefer? So, check "Mary" out - She was hot then, and she's still hot today.