Me, Myself & Irene Movie Review:


Me, Myself and Irene is a typical comedic invention from the Farrelly Brothers that lacks many elements. Charlie (Carrey) is a well-mannered and always helpful police officer in Rhode Island. He is also a devoted and loving father of three sons, even though they are not of his blood. Unfortunately, Charlie has a Split Personality Disorder and when his patience is tested, meet Hank, who is Charlie's hypersensitive alter ego. Hank's got a fowl mouth, cracks skulls and loves kinky sex. Charlie and Hank have nothing in common, except Irene (Zellweger), who is a beautiful woman that Charlie has been ordered to take up to Messina, New York. On the way up to Messina, Charlie and Hank both quickly fall in love with Irene. Now, Charlie/Hank have to wage a conflict to win the affections of Irene.

I laughed many times during the first half of Me, Myself and Irene, but I shook my head through the last 45 minutes of the film. The Farrelly Brothers just pushed the envelope too far.

The two brothers, Peter and Bobby, wrote and directed Me, Myself and Irene. The two also created Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin and There's Something about Mary. The Farrelly Brothers have always been known for pushing the envelope to the edge in their films with gross out comedy. In this attempt, the envelope falls over the edge. Like I said before, the first 45 minutes of this movie are enjoyable, but the movie sinks on it's latter half. I have always liked how the Farrellys create hysterical comedy with romantic relationships. However, the love relationship between Charlie/Hank and Irene is vastly created with no depth. The character of Irene just pops up on the screen, with some kind of bad guy trying to kill her with something to do with the EPA. It was a real lackluster in the film. I did actually like the relationship between Charlie and his three sons better than his relationship with Irene. Also, there is absolutely no way of liking Charlie's alter ego Hank. Even though he is a jerk, the things he does are absolutely terrible. A few of his actions are funny, like when he goes to the bathroom on his neighbors' yard. But most of his actions are just too much, like when he curses at children. If the film would have had more depth and maybe been toned down a little, it might have been a better film.

Jim Carrey is terrific in his physical comedic return as Charlie and Hank. Carrey is a gifted actor that turns in two very different performances as Charlie and Hank. As Charlie, Carrey is likeable and sweet. And as Hank, Carrey lowers his voice and creates the invert and mean Hank. Jim Carrey is an amazing physical comedian whose body seems to be made out of plastic. Renee Zewellger delivers a modest performance as Irene. Zewellger does make a little bit of something out of Irene, in which the Farrelly brothers didn't give her much to work with. Another notable actor in this film is Chris Cooper, who plays the bad guy Lt. Gerke. Cooper does an okay job in this film, but he is too good of an actor to have a character without any depth. Cooper can be seen in such films as The Horse Whisperer, Lone Star, October Sky, American Beauty and most recently The Patriot. I also thought that the three young actors that play Charlie's sons were pretty funny, except at their final scene in the movie. Me, Myself and Irene is funny, but it does go overboard. This film is already a hit and probably will not have a problem being a bigger hit on video.

Report Card Grade: C

Joseph Tucker

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