Film Review: There's Something About Mary

Let’s go for a ride and I’ll tell you more. The film begins with Mary Jensen almost naturally performed by the freshness of Cameron Diaz in a high school setting with a host of boys who have a crush on the unassuming beauty. The first in-your-face are the parents of Mary. They’re an interracial couple and while one of them is a step parent, you’d never know it. On prom night Mary’s date Ted (Ben Stiller) is so nervous and uncoordinated that after using their restroom, accidentally gets his private parts caught in the zipper of his awful sky blue tuxedo. The shtick associated with the event is howlingly embarrassing and funny beyond hilarious. Cut to Ted thirteen years later; Ted’s a writer whose heart still longs for Mary. Ted reluctantly hires a private detective to find Mary and that’s where the real fun begins. Ted’s best friend Dom, (Chris Elliot) recommends Pat Healy the detective to find Mary. So what’s the catch? In his stealthy observance of Mary, the P.I. falls in love with the image of Mary himself. Notice I say ‘image of Mary’. I’ll come back to that later because at the core of this movie is something unusual.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, detective Healy played by Matt Dillon returns to his client only to tell him that Mary is fat, on welfare, and drug addicted in an attempt to get Ted to forget about Mary because Healy’s plan is to return to where he found her to pursue a relationship. Enter Tucker, an adorable architect whose multiple sclerosis induced handicap is effectively portrayed by Lee Evans. Tucker’s early scenes are showstoppers and epitomize the pride of self reliance. His handicap is irrelevant because of the power of his innocent charm as a person. I can’t say more than this but Evans gives us a solid performance as friend, confidant, and protector to Mary … or so it seems.

The situation becomes an ‘oh-no’ moment as Mary gently falls for Healy who cleverly unearthed enough information about her idea of an ideal man in his surveillance. Knowing her quirks allows him to know the absolute correct things to say to win her heart. As he cozies up to her, he uses clever situational shenanigans to con Mary into believing he’s her dream man. It almost works. Enter Tucker again with enough information to stop Mary from slipping into Healy’s web. Tucker who seems to be just a friend also has a crush on Mary. You should also know that there’s a surprise in Tucker’s crush that I wouldn’t spoil for you.

Despite the horrible report from Healy, the still lovesick Ted heads to Florida to find Mary which brings him into direct conflict, amusing conflict, with a host of suitors that Mary doesn’t even realize are in love with her. The comedy doesn’t let up, even through the serious moments. Magda (Lin Shave) is Mary’s neighbor and sort of confidant / surrogate mother. Some of the best moments of the film include Magda especially in a scene where Pat Healy the detective is spying on Mary’s bedroom window with binoculars only to see the bare breast of Magda. It’s hilarious and something to see. Magda’s dog is fabulous, perhaps as good as Verdel in "As Good As It Gets". The antics continue for the entire film but skillfully laced in the rip roaring fun is a gentle and tender story with a wider, more subtle message of caring and humanness not often seen. I call it the ‘secret’ - secret because most won’t recognize the gift of the movie, dismissing the jewel because it’s camouflaged by the film’s wonderful humor. I’m going to tell you the secret but I preface it by making a reference to another movie, The Cable Guy.

The Cable Guy, which was directed by Ben Stiller, was panned by critics and a box office bomb for Columbia because nobody got it. Everyone thought is should have been standard Jim Carey shtick . It wasn’t until it was released into video stores that folks realized that this cute little movie made a powerful statement about all of us and our attitudes toward television. It has since been recognized as a cult film with a powerful message. That brings me back to "There’s Something About Mary". As funny as "Mary" is, the story under the story has to do with the old fashioned idea of just being a nice person. It’s what I referred to earlier as the ’image’ . Mary has become an orthopedic surgeon of considerable means but you’d never know it by observing her. We see Mary stopping to buy burgers, dozens of them, before going to visit her mentally retarded brother. Once there, she lovingly showers ALL the patients with burgers. The looks in their faces, the simple response to an unprovoked act of human kindness is wonderful. Mary, who by today's paradigm, could have behaved like a witch, didn’t. You know what I mean, nasty, snappy, arrogant with an air of a queen-of-the-manor in her countenance - but instead we see the simplicity of a feminine beauty whose not too pretty, being absolutely comfortable with the fragile openness of just being nice.

Directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, they allow us to gently see a feminine mystic that’s become rare in the 90’s, soft, strong, kind, and tender. The Farrelly’s clearly expect their male audiences to look up in pause and say, " hmm, there really is Something About Mary." They cleverly allow us to experience a whole range of emotions through the array of suitors who see but rarely understand why Mary has such an effect on them. Part of the premise of this film is how bewitching Mary’s niceness is. If you’re attentive you’ll certainly understand what drove a man who hadn’t seen her for thirteen years to track her down. Cameron Diaz was perfectly cast because her beauty is not overt but subtle. It’s clear that she was skillfully directed to create a presence that almost comes off the screen right into your heart. If you can control the laughter and let this movie affect you it will be even more enjoyable.

The are some detractions that take away from the movie - one being the STUPID soundtrack. Idiotic in conception and bumbling in execution is a guy with a guitar and a compadre with a bucket drum walking and singing completely out of key, lyrics that are supposed to accentuate the scene you’ve just scene or are about to see. Ouch! Was this a painful distraction. In one such scene the guy is playing an electric guitar that’s not plugged into anything. What are we all, idiots? Who are these guys, cousins of the directors? Maybe they are the directors doing multiple ‘walk-ons’ in their own movie. It sucked! No if, ands, or buts about it.

Finally, the cinematography is at best, average. I couldn’t tell if it was the jerky editing or the out of focus scenes on some of the important scenes of the film. Some of the camera motion was almost like pan and scan.

But still, the saving grace was the delicious acting and wickedly humorous story written by Ed Decter and John Strauss. It took real courage to put this much anecdotal humor into a script and I loved it. By all means see the film. It’s not one that you have to see on the big screen, DVD will do just fine so wait a few months if you want. This one will certainly be a runaway hit when it gets to HBO and the video stores. My verdict: I’m crazy about There’s Something About Mary and you will be too.

See you at the movies