I feel no sudden urge now to watch any other Farrelly brothers films...

Rating: 6/10 (3 July 2013)

I confess that before I watched this, I had not seen any Farrelly brothers films. Not Dumb and Dumber, not Shallow Hal. Nothing. And now that I have witnessed "There's Something about Mary", I feel no sudden urge to watch any of their other films. I found it frequently disgusting in its source of humour and a bit too over-the-top. Now, you may accuse me of being a film snob, but I didn't dislike it because I only like black and white or foreign films. I don't. I disliked it because its sense of humour was very different to mine, and I have a very broad sense of humour. This would only be a hilarious movie if you find a continual onslaught of rude and disgusting jokes funny. If, after two whole hours, you still find a perverted man with ever- increasing hives funny, this is definitely the film for you. Unfortunately, I don't.
And that's another point. This movie, 119 minutes in length, is far too long for the genre of comedy that it's in. There are only so many gross-out jokes you can make, and after about 90 minutes, it all feels a bit monotonous. So, among all of these negative comments, what saves this film from being completely terrible and unfunny? The answer to that is Ben Stiller. Since this film, he has gone on to star in gems like "Dodgeball" and especially "Meet the Parents". In "There's Something about Mary" we see the foundations to the socially-awkward character which he perfected over the years. He makes a fantastic love-struck teenager, and later on, a great awkward adult. He delivers a lot of his lines in a hilarious way, and he makes most of his scenes completely watchable, unlike many other characters that just make you a bit uncomfortable.
There were definitely some jokes that I did like. The entrance of the shrink at the end of the session is really funny, as is the murder of the ever-present guitar player, whose death is very welcome by the end. The overlying sentiment of the film also has some part in its saving, and we do see the true love that exists between Mary and Ted, despite all of the characters around them vying for her love.
Overall, it is an unintelligent and often unwatchable farce, but it does have occasional fine moments, which save it from being completely terrible.