There’s Something About Mary (1998)

Directed by: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly | 119 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott, Lin Shaye, Jeffrey Tambor, Markie Post, Keith David, W. Earl Brown, Sarah Silverman, Khandi Alexander, Marnie Alexenburg, Danny Murphy, Richard Tyson, Rob Moran, Jackie Flynn, Hillary Matthews, Willie Garson

‘There’s Something About Mary’ is famous and important. The film is famous, as few will remember the scene with the unusual hair gel that Cameron Diaz grabs from Ben Stiller’s ear and smears into her own hair, resulting in a striking, straight strand of hair. Or the extremely painful moment when Stiller gets his “salami and olives” between his zipper during a visit to the toilet with his great love. And who doesn’t remember the speed hyperactive Jack Russell dog that is put in a cast after a fierce wrestling match? For these reasons and others, “There’s Something About Mary” has become a literally unforgettable experience for most viewers, whether they like it or not. The movie is also important. Not socially or substantively or in the sense that film history has drastically changed for the better, but it is the film that permanently established the careers of the directors and lead actors in Hollywood and led to more work and success. It is clear that no one can ignore the film, but what exactly are the qualities of the film? Is ‘There’s Something About Mary’ really such a comedy masterpiece as tradition would have you believe? Not quite, but the film’s appeal is still undeniable. This has not so much to do with a great story or brilliant direction – as the film itself is far from perfect – but above all with the excellent casting of the main characters. Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon and, above all, the radiant Cameron Diaz, make ‘There’s Something About Mary’ an irresistible romantic comedy.

The Farrelly brothers directing, and protagonists Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz already had a few films to their name (interestingly, all of them have one with Jim Carrey), such as ‘The Cable Guy’, ‘The Mask’, and ‘Dumb & Dumber’, but with ‘There’s Something About Mary’ they all had their biggest success ever. And there was certainly no guarantee that this would be a good career move for those involved. Cameron Diaz must have had some doubts about a role that requires her to walk around with sperm in her hair. Then try again to appear charming or intelligent. But she succeeds on both counts. And more. In the film, Mary is placed on a pedestal and it is she who everything and everyone revolves around, but Diaz herself deserves no less credit for the success of the film. A less scintillating actress in the role could have sunk the film. She harbors everything: she is very attractive, but not arrogant. In fact, she is seemingly completely uninhibited and unaware of her beauty. She is sympathetic, accommodating but also a bit teasing, has spunk, and always has her heart in the right place. So she is beautiful on the outside as well as on the inside: in other words, a dream woman. But a dream woman who is accessible to everyone, so she just wants to go to the prom with Stiller with wrong hair, even bad clothes, and braces. And Diaz knows how to sell all this convincingly. You believe as a viewer that she really is like that and that such a person can really exist and that is not a sick achievement. Ben Stiller is also perfectly cast as the lovable loser who ends up in the most embarrassing circumstances. He is sympathetic and not unintelligent, but somehow everything goes wrong with him. Not only the aforementioned scenes with genitals and a body fluid in the lead role can be cited as an example, but also an unfortunate visit to a parking lot, a pounding session with Mary’s mentally retarded brother, a meeting of his lip with a fishhook, and more. many more painful moments befall him during the film. Usually these moments yield at least a smile, along with some positive outliers and bland moments. As much fun as Stiller can be in the film, the film’s biggest comedic surprise is actually Matt Dillon, who plays a bad ass jackass who eavesdrops and manipulates in order to win Mary’s favors himself. And yet he comes across as sympathetic and you laugh with him when he drugs Mary’s neighbor’s dog and later tries to resuscitate with electric wires when he turns out to have become very drowsy. His dentures, which he puts on after learning that Mary likes bright white teeth, is also funny, and it’s both touching and hilarious when he tells Mary very sincerely and without sarcasm that he loves being with “retarded people” ( “retards”), this of course to create a bond with Mary and her mentally handicapped brother.

It’s a good thing that the actors cultivate so much goodwill because the film is not always effective or efficient. In fact, the film is simply too long and several scenes, characters and entire storylines could have been removed. The film revolves around Stiller and Dillon who are both fighting over the same woman and all other storylines could in fact have been removed. It’s understandable that a pizza delivery boy and an old schoolmate of Stiller’s are also after Mary, but it doesn’t add anything. It is more distracting and sometimes even irritating. A comical outing in which Stiller picks up a psychopathic hitchhiker and ends up in jail himself feels like filler, and is also quite predictable in a humorous sense (the interrogation scene, in which the innocent Stiller is intimidated and mistreated by a hot-tempered cop, is also later in the series Seinfeld both more subtle and hilarious, with Kramer as the victim). Despite the somewhat lavish storylines, characters, and sometimes (too) bland humor, ‘There’s Something About Mary’ has certainly become a well-functioning and amusing film. It’s a movie that can be forgiven a lot when Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, and especially a revelation like Cameron Diaz manage to draw attention to itself.