Brandon at Random Reviews

It’s a strange thing to watch artists get a hit and become the big name in their business. Sometimes they innovate and reinvent themselves and are able to keep riding that high. But I’d say they often shine too bright only to burn right the fuck out after a few golden nuggets. This actually has mostly examples of the former, with a little dash of the latter all in one package!

In 1994, Jim Carrey starred in The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Dumb & Dumber. He was the hottest of hot shit in the comedy world. Young people loved him and old people seemed to hate him quite a bit for the most part. But he had this unheard of meteoric rise to movie stardom. Sure, he was in some shit before that, but he had 3 smash hits in one year from relative obscurity! The Farrelly Brothers were the directors of Dumb & Dumber, and they also went from practical nobodies to being household names in slapstick comedy.

Both Carrey and the Farrelly Bros. really got the hot hands in the industry. Carrey took on some serious roles and kinda fizzled out a bit several years back, as did the Farrellys as their particular brand of humor got tired. Strangely enough though, Green Book won Best Picture for Peter Farrelly and holy fuck I didn’t know he had it in him. But like, don’t get me wrong, Carrey does still have a career, he’s just not the bright star he once was.

This movie. This “Me, Myself, & Irene” though. It’s definitely post-peak Farrelly, and probably also post-peak Carrey with the exception of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which you MUST check out right away. This film is funny. Like it’s an amusing concept. A guy puts up with/suppresses the bad things and forces himself to only see the good so much that it manifests itself in a personality disorder that creates a separate version of himself taking over his body and really laying into people who wrong him.

I honestly can’t picture anyone other than Jim Carrey playing this part. He just captures the essence of what good Charlie and bad Hank need to be in order to accomplish what they set out to do and still be genuinely funny. Especially the physical bits, he’s the only actor out there for my money that can nail that like he does here. He’s a very talented guy whether you’ll admit it or not. Renee Zellweger is our titular “Irene” and I’m just not sure about her. Like she’s a good actress for the most part, but I fell in and out of love with her multiple times in this flick for a variety of reasons and I don’t know what to make of that. I guess them’s the breaks with a Hollywood actress.

This movie only gets into trouble when it tries to push racially charged and often stereotypical jokes and characters. The 3 African-American “sons” in this movie are smart characters, but they also do and say a lot of things that just give you that…albeit fairly mildly…disgusted feeling. Like I don’t know, maybe I’m being social justicey or over sensitive with this but I don’t think I’m that far off. Also, they break the 4th wall at the end of this film to say “thanks for watchin’ our mother fuckin’ movie!” which is just generally weird minus any racial stuff.

All in all I’d say this one was still pretty solid after 20+ years with the exception of a few bad choices here and there. Jim Carrey was still in his prime(ish) here, with a lot of great comedy in him. Zellweger is okay, but don’t let her break your heart. The Farrelly Brothers seem like they might have a few tricks left in the bag even if they’re not humorous ones. Give it a chance if you can look past some stuff. On Hulu.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Irene: “Sometimes I think there’s something about my look that just attracts assholes.”

Charlie: “That’s crazy, you’re a very special girl, Irene, look at you. You’re just so down to earth. I mean look at your hair. It’s like you don’t give a damn, you know? And your skins so natural, you just let it hang out, blemishes and all. You’re not afraid of your flaws. You have squinty eyes and your face is all pursed up like you just sucked a lemon. But you pull it off!”