Me, Myself & Irene

SCRIBE'S ANOTHER IN A LONG LIST OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES REVIEW:

It's funny. Not the movie, something else. When I went to see this film during its theatrical run, I was starting to fall away from enjoying Carrey's films and thought I was becoming a Farelly brothers fan. So, in my mind, the two would cancel each other out and I'd be watching one hilarious movie!

Not so, unfortunately. The script is, to say the least, lackluster and uninspired. In retrospect, the Farrely's were already on their way to becoming a piss poor imitation of the far superior Cohen Brothers by slowly working more and more melodrama into their films. The end result is a mixed bag of mostly unfunny gags and lots of wasted potential.

Ironically, Carrey was well on his way to becoming a great dramatic actor while slumming in this mess while the filmmakers were doing a horrible job of trying to re-create what they'd done so well in their previous 3 films, especially Kingpin, a pitch perfect comedy if ever there was one.

Unlike Green, I find Rene Zellweger to be a talent-less and hideous hack. She adds nothing to this film except annoyance. At the risk of sounding sexist, filmmakers need to be very careful when they cast women in comedies because so many of them have poor timing.

I also found the inclusion of the black sons who were somehow pitch black despite being his white ex-wife's children highly offensive. Adding the stupid black midget as the testosterone-fueled dad was just reaching. Having the sons grow up on a steady diet of gangsta rap and BET was a funny idea, but it fell flat due to them being supposedly half-white. If his ex-wife had been black, it would have worked much better.

Stupid, unfunny movie.

No *'s out of *****


GREEN'S GREATEST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IN THE LAND REVIEW:

I've said in the past that I'm not a big Jim Carrey fan, but I do respect him as an actor. No one quite does physical slapstick-type comedy as well as Carrey does. Even if the film sucks, watching him is worth a few laughs. On the other hand, I am a fan of Renee Zellweger and have been ever since "Jerry McGuire," and especially since "Chicago." I appreciated the fact that part of the film is set in Rhode Island, since I was born (but never held legal residence) there. But dayum those state police uniforms are uuuuuugleeeee.

The Farrelly brothers have a knack for coming up with great stories because they do a good job of character development, which is a key element in creating a good story. You genuinely like the characters in their films and want to care about them. Having a narrator is unusual and slightly weird, but Rex Allen Jr. does a great job of it and adds a wee-bit of comedy to the film which would otherwise be missing.

The story is good, the script is well-written and the film is a nice length at just under two hours. The special features on the DVD are worthwhile to watch as well.

All in all an enjoyable movie.

*** out of *****