There's Something About Mary

I think this movie was overrated from the get-go for me. Or at least over-hyped. It came out when I was just ten years old (yet doesn't feel dated in the least, strangely enough). It was rated R (which, also strangely enough, hardly seems warranted in hindsight). I just think I was in the midst of that small window, age-wise, when "raunchy" meant "awesome." Friends called it the funniest movie they'd ever seen, but probably because they were ten or twelve years old and thought that semen was hilarious. I was probably also convinced, in that awkward peer-pressure-driven way, that Cameron Diaz was one of the hottest women alive. After all, if the movie was about one woman who a lot of different men wanted to have, she must have been smokin' hot, right? And in the twelve years since the film's debut, I've obviously come to realize that part of the humor is derived from the very opposite truth: that Cameron Diaz is (although by no means ugly) definitely not some kind of sex-oozing beauty. But back in that confusing era of pre-adolescence, I first saw the movie under the impression that Cameron Diaz (and thus the Mary character) was one of the hottest women on the planet and also that the jokes revolving around ear semen and old lady boobs were the funniest things ever put into a movie. So perhaps you can understand why and how this movie has never even come close to living up to my original expectations. Anyway, I hadn't seen the movie in at least five years before last night, and hadn't seen it all the way through in close to ten years, and I hoped that with the advantage of context and hindsight, I could finally give There's Somethign About Mary a fair and honest judgment. And it definitely is a pretty funny movie. I definitely think some of the jokes and quotes have been parodied and copied to death in the past twelve years, and so a lot of the jokes probably still fell flatter for me than they would have had I been unaware of their existence beforehand. But I'd still call the movie worth seeing if, for some reason, you've never seen it before. (Marissa, I'm talking to you. Directly!) But I'm probably mostly recommending that due to the iconic status of the movie; if it hadn't been so popular or parodied, I'd probably say something more along the lines of, "It definitely had it's moments. See if you can find it on Netflix or something." So even with a wiser and more finely-tuned eye for comedy, I really don't find this movie that much better than I did ten years ago. I liked different parts for different reasons, but ultimately, it can't be considered even one of the top ten or so comedies of my lifetime. But Matt Dillon was awesome, Ben Stiller was tolerable, and even Chris Elliott had his moments. Oh, and the cameo by a young Brett Favre only made me hate that guy even more. I'm glad his streak is over, but how many ESPN retrospectives do we still have to sit through during Monday Night Football?