There's Something About Mary (1998)
Love sick
Ted (Ben Stiller) falls head over heels for Mary (Cameron Diaz). When he gets
the chance to take her to the prom, the night is going well… until an
unfortunate zipper accident. Ted’s night is cut short (and so is his manhood),
and he is hauled away in an ambulance, embarrassed and heartbroken. Thirteen
years later, and Ted is still in love with the girl who got away. Deciding he
can’t let her go, Ted hires Pat Healy (Matt Dillon), a personal investigator
who tracks her down to Miami. Once there, Healy falls in love with Mary. As Ted
fights to win back the girl of his dreams, it turns out a whole bunch of
hapless and hopeless guys want her just as bad. And why? She’s beautiful,
funny, charming, smart and well,… because there’s just something about Mary.
The 90’s was
a productive time for the romantic comedy genre. Teens had taken this over in
the mid to late nineties, once “Scream” and “Dawson’s Creek” were on every youngster’s
mind. But where did this leave the love stories for the grown-ups? “There’s
Something About Mary” features no teens, but characters in their twenties and
thirties, and is your classic love story - with a twist. Once the story got
into the hands of The Farrelly Brothers, it was no longer going to be just
another rom-com. Known for their physically vulgar and unapologetically
rude comedies ‘Kingpin” and the classic “Dumb and Dumber”, the filmmakers
decided it was time to push the envelope, and make a comedy not just
laugh-out-loud funny, but visually gross, cringeworthy and dirty. And it worked
like a treat.
There’s
Something About Mary was one of the funniest comedies of the 90’s, hands down.
At its core, was a sweet story about puppy love that wouldn’t grow up, and a
man determined to know if the girl he secretly adored felt the same away about
him. It had gags and scenes that were so outside of the box, audiences were
shocked at what they were seeing. Such as the sight of a penis and testicles
caught in a zip, a dog being given mouth to mouth after eating too much speed,
and a guy jerking off before a big date. Just when you thought each of these
jokes couldn’t be more in your face, they took it another step.
If you’ve
seen the film (which I’m guessing you have), you’ll easily remember the look of
Mary’s hair sticking right up, after she’s put what she thought was hair gel in
it. Comfortably scraping it off Ted’s ear at the start of their date, she’s
completely oblivious that it is the missing load Ted shot out during his
pre-date release and couldn’t find. As Mary was none the wiser to the “product”
in her hair, Ted doesn’t say a thing. It’s moments like this in the film, where
you will laugh, and continue laughing for a while, until another joke comes
around and knocks you off your chair again.
After the
success of the film, comedies had to be rude, crude and push the envelope to
entertain an audience who had really seen it all now, thanks to There’s
Something About Mary.
Aside from its
laughs and gross out gags, the film is also credible for launching the careers
of it’s two leading stars. Ben Stiller had popped up in cameos here and there,
but began his career in Hollywood behind the camera, directing comedies
“Reality Bites” and “The Cable Guy”. Cameron Diaz was familiar to audiences as
Tina from “The Mask” with Jim Carrey, and the girl Julia Roberts must stop from
taking her man away in “My Best Friend’s Wedding”. Stepping up from supporting
roles to the lead, Diaz proved she wasn’t just a pretty face, but a talented actress
who could move easily between comedy and drama. She was the kind of girl all
guys wanted to be with, and this led her to become one of the movies leading
ladies over the next fifteen years, before she retired from acting in 2014.
Even if it’s 23 years old – yes, that old – There’s Something About Mary is still a classic comedy. You can continue to appreciate it after repeated viewings, as it’s a comedy that works on so many levels. You can watch it for the gags, the good acting, the clever lines and the good-natured love story.
It’s safe to say comedies weren’t the same after this movie, given its ability to essentially take dick and fart jokes and make them serve the story, instead of just distract from it. Without this, we might not have seen “American Pie”, “Scary Movie” or even “The Hangover”
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