Rating: 
Summary: No matron should see this
Review: In the annals of cinema comedy where will the Farrelly brothers finally reside? Soon after their first venture into film they were labeled as what can only be described as the eminent caretakers of teen comedy. To their credit they compounded this accusation by returning, in later films, to the material that garnered that reputation in the first place. Steeped in gross out gags, replete with fart jokes, the Farrelly brothers are perceived by those that vote with their pen rather then their dollar as the kings of low brow drudgery.For those of you that have not seen There's Something About Mary, which if you allow me a tinge of prognostication is probably fairly close to none of you, I implore you to seek and see this movie. If I were a person contained within your limited sphere of knowing I would constantly badger you. In the realm of motion pictures TSAM begs to be laughed with. Technology, the infinite wonder that it is, has provided english speaking humanity a wonderful oppurtunity to not only watch the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio. But to lay over the standard picture an audio track that only the Farrelly brothers occupy. Sadly and solemnly I cannot give my recommendation to this anticapated track. Brothers Farrelly continually remark about the aboundance of friends and family members included in the cast. Admirable yes, but to be indiscriminate regarding who you know that gets into the movie and then relate this extra-ordinary ability to the viewer surely could not have been solicited by the producer or an anxious viewer. Rather, the public would have appreciated comments toward the nuances and idiosyncracies of the film. In closing I regard this wondefully charming film in high esteem and for that it receives five out of five stars. Though the non-inclusion of extras was deeply disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: A Couple Very Bad Scenes Keep it Just Short of Five
Review: There's Something About Mary is another comedy gem from the Farrelly brothers. It stars Ben Stiller as Ted, the former high school geek, who got a shot at going to the prom with the school beauty queen Mary (Cameron Diaz) only to screw it up in an unforgetful way. Ted hasn't been able to forget about Mary so he employs the services of Pat (Matt Dillon), an insurance fraud investigator, to track down Mary in Miami. He decides to tell Ted a lot of lies about Mary so he can try for her himself. But Ted doesn't want to give up on her regardless of what Pat tells him she has become. The bulk of the movie is spent watching Ted, Pat, and Tucker/Norm (Lee Evans) compete over Mary. The funniest scene in this movie (maybe the funniest extended scene in any movie ever) is at the beginning when high school Ted has come over to Mary's house to take her to the prom. It is about 15 minutes of pure comic genius and will easily make anyone feel a whole lot better about their high school experiences. Unless of course the same thing happened to you. The Farrelly's don't go for the easy gag in this movie. They go all out and they usually hit right on the mark. There are three or four other long sequences that don't give you a second to breathe because you're laughing too hard. The acting in this movie is only half good though. Stiller is the current master of the dark comedy. He is clearly the star of this film. Diaz and Dillon are good actors but I really didn't think they did as well as they could have with their parts. That is a problem because they take up a good portion of the film by themselves. Evans really shines when he switches to the role of Norm. I still am perplexed at why Chris Elliott continues to get acting jobs. A lack of acting skill can be excused if you have a gift for comedy, which Elliott has been lacking since the second episode of "Get a Life". Also, there were some scenes that were just painfully uncomfortable to watch. But that's the way the Farrelly's like their movies and fortunately they are right more times than not. When they're wrong though, it is just a disaster.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat overrated
Review: Comparing this movie to a Zucker-Abraham-Zucker film is a lot like comparing a strip mall to Paris. Face it: There's Something About Mary is not Airplane! nor Hot Shots! nor any of those other well-remembered classics. What we don't see here is the tradition of the running joke. Z-A-Z films are famous for their repeated gags, some of them owing their existence to earlier films (such as the brilliant "screwdriver" scene in Airplane 2: The Sequel when Ted still has his "drinking problem"). Standing on its own, the movie does have funny points (some riotously funny) but they tie together badly. The screenplay seems to have been written in order to jump from one joke to the next, but with no thought given to fleshing out each joke to give it depth and character like a running gag can develop. Many jokes are just funny because of their shock value, an attribute which wears off quickly in any film. Great comedies carry jokes on multiple levels, some of them mere statements of irony spanning large parts of the film, yet Mary doesn't have that. Yeah, the movie was funny, but it just wasn't as funny as it was hyped up to be. The movie benefits largely from the timing of its release, when it was largely unchallenged as the ruling comedy of the year.
Rating: 
Summary: A Matter of Taste
Review: Upon release in Summer, 1998, "There's Something About Mary" became the surprise comedy hit of the year, due to its string of consistently shocking gross-out gags. Because the film nearly overdoses on scatology and innuendo, I didn't find much of the material funny (aside from a gag involving Ben Stiller's roadside restroom stop). Nevertheless, the rest of the audience laughed so hard, through the entire film, that it often became difficult to hear the dialogue... and the picture did incredible box office... so it's probably a matter of taste. My biggest complaint about "There's Something About Mary" is that it fails on the most rudimentary level: as an attempt to blend lighthearted, touching romantic comedy with Kentucky Fried Movie--style raunch. Other movies pull off this difficult feat successfully--particularly Mel Smith's "The Tall Guy" and Paul Bartel's "Eating Raoul" <two of the funniest films of the last twenty years>, and the Farrellys should be lauded for trying to achieve that melange. But like oil and water, the two comedic modes never quite gel, and sit beside each other awkwardly. The other Amazon reviewers are right: chances are, you'll either love this film or hate it. But regardless of your reaction, try *not* to see it alone! The humor here is deliberately uncomfortable, making "Mary" far, far more enjoyable with a large group -- where the embarrassment can be shared with other viewers.
Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT; COMEDY AT ITS VERY BEST
Review: When I first saw this film I thought that it was the funniest movie that i'd ever seen, it wasn't that it had lots of small sections of comedy, it was that it was consistently funny, had some really good comedy acting in it, and,like all the other Farrelly brothers' movies it contained lots of 'below the belt' humour, too. The story is basically that of Ted(Ben Stiller), a bit of a loser, who, after defending her brother, ends up with a prom date with Mary(Cameron Diaz) the most beautiful girl in school. But then on the night of the prom, Ted gets 'caught' in his zipper....So, he never gets to go to the prom with Mary, and never sees her again. Then we go forward 10 years, Mary has moved away, but Ted is still in love with Mary, I won't give any more away about the story, because smeone did that to me, and it kind of spoils it. Ben Stiller particularly shines out, he does a brilliant comedic turn, especially in the major sequences like 'the zipper' and 'flogging the donkey'. Cameron Diaz is just kind of there, but she plays a good part, as does British comedian/actor Lee Evans. The DVD has just standard stuff on it, but the music kareoke of 'build me up, buttercup' is very funny. All in all, if you like gross-out humour, buy this DVD, and even after repeat viewings, it still makes me laugh heartily!
Rating:
Summary: What About Mary? What About The Plot? What About Those Gags?
Review: "There's Something About Mary" is a movie that you either love or hate based on whether or not you find the plot(Whether or not guys would actually stalk Mary the way they shamelessly did) to be believable or not and the gags to be outrageous enough. I didn't believe the plot was as developed as it could have been. I also felt that we(The viewers) never get to find out who Mary really is other than it would seem a little boy trapped in a woman's body and the "disturbing" gags were no more than worth a few giggles and a groan.(They are harmless. They don't signify the trend toward hedonism or some other silly irrational theory of the horrid decline of popular taste) They showed "private parts"(manly ones) that you might not expect to see in a comedy as well as gave masturbation a whole new purpose before a nervous first date.(Releases the tension they say) The movie starts great with a little zipper mishap in Mary's bathroom before the prom. Ted(Ben Stiller) never got a chance to get to that prom because it was off to the emergency room. That start was great but it started to fall apart after. What you have is a plot that gets convoluted by a series of events that really are not held together that well. Like "Dumb and Dumber" this movie has a road trip feel to it. Ted hires a private investigator to find Mary. Then Ted heads down to Florida 13 years(and some therapy) after the zipper mishap to find Mary. Along the way things happen that really have nothing to do with anything going on in the story. For example, one minute Ted(Ben Stiller) is driving down from Rhode Island(I think it was) to Florida and the next minute he is arrested. That and other gags seem to be nothing but gags. They aren't exactly believable and they don't enhance the plot. They are isolated jokes.(You might like that) Mary is obviously supposed to be the most important character in this movie as the title is "There's Something About Mary" but I never really was that impressed by Mary.(Or Cameron Diaz's performance). Mary was supposed to be a surgeon of which giving my past history of spelling errors and the lack of a dictionary handy I'm not going to attempt to spell the type.(Orthopaedic, I hope) She never really seems smart enough and the script never gives us any reason to believe she actually has an office and/or a practice. I worked for one of those doctors/surgeons in the past and I can tell you that if Mary was really one of those people then she would have looked like hell had warmed over her. She would have had blood shot eyes and a general haggard look about her. They work extremely long and hard hours. Mary seemed free to do whatever she wished whenever she wished to do it. She had a lot of free time. Maybe she did not have a private practice as well as do surgeries but for somebody who went to medical school she seemed far removed from anything medical other than her relationship with her mentally handicapped brother. Mary seemed so artificial and shallow to me. She liked sportcenter and drank beer and talked like a teenage guy would. She sweared without blinking an eyelash. She fell for the BS that every guy in this movie fed her with. She was a bit ditzy. This is a romantic comedy? She is a naive girl who seems to have the same tastes as a guy trapped in a woman's body. Is the something about Mary that she is vulnerable? If that's it then it's sad, not funny.
Rating:
Summary: side-splitting laughter, great comedy
Review: This is the type of movie that you either hate it or you love it. You're either going to be doubled over in laughter from the beginning, or you're going to curl your lip in disgust and turn off the show. Ben Stiller is shown as a braces-wearing, zitt-laden teenager who is enamored w/ Cameron Diaz. The Herman Munster haircut alone is enough to make you chuckle. Several weird and wacky circumstances revolve around Stiller's longing for the girl he missed going to Prom with and other characters who are equally obsessed with her. She's a naive intellectual who is oblivious to the obsurdity surrounding her. Lots of physical humor, but a lot on an intellectual level. This comedy appeals both to those who just like silly and stupid laughter and those who require a pinch of brain power to enjoy a movie. The out-takes and commentaries by the talented Farrelly brothers makes the DVD the obvious choice over VHS. There are a few scenes you'll want to watch over and over again because they are beyond slapstick funny, but I can't picture myself sitting through this beginning to end more than once... after you've seen the jokes and have been taken off-guard by the unconventional scenes, you've seen it... if ya know what I mean, Vern. If you haven't seen it, AFI recently put this on their list of the 100 most funny films of the 20th century... not sure how they did that, since the 20th century won't be over until January 1, 2001, but I guess films made this year will have to hold out until 2100! It is hilarious, and unless sick physical humor disagrees with you, you should enjoy it. This film is NOT for kids... period.
Rating:
Summary: One of the funniest movies of all time
Review: This movie was recently rated among the funniest movies of all time by somebody who is supposed to know such things, but this one belongs on the list. Not only is it funny, but it is touching, heartwarming and interesting. Cameron Diaz was great as Mary. She believably portrayed an effervescent woman who has that special quality about her that causes men to fall head over heals. Ben Stiller was perfect as the dufus who somehow finds himself with the most desirable girl in school. Matt Dillon, much to my surprise, was great as the competitor to win Mary's heart. However, Chris Elliot, who I love from Get a Life, had some really bad acting in this film. All in all, it is a great film that one could watch over and over and still get a belly laugh. I've seen it at least 5 times and still enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Funny Moments, Vulgar Atmosphere
Review: The movie had several funny moments based on some classical techniques of comedy: misunderstanding and exaggeration. Maybe it is just like some reviewers have pointed out: this movie simply indicates the trend that our culture took--the trend of toiler humour. This is unfortunate, I think. The movie could have been great--the acting is good and some jokes work--but the sheer vulgarity ruined it for me.
Rating:
Summary: Funny & hip
Review: Ok, this movie is not going to set Oscar night on fire, so what? It's funny, it's hip. I enjoy each & every one of Ben Stiller's movies. "Flirting with Disaster', 'Reality Bites' etc. There are some really funny scenes here too - Matt Dillon trying to bring a dead dog back to life, Ben Stiller's come in Cameron Diaz's hair, Matt Dillon lying through his teeth shamelessly to woo Mary... some may call it tasteless, but it was lots of laughs. Highly recommended.
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