Themes: Assumed Identities, Schemes and Ruses, Obsessive Quests
Main Cast: Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 118 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The Farrelly Brothers set this romantic comedy in their home state of Rhode Island. In 1985, when teen-nerd Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) challenges a high-schooler who's bullying retarded Warren Jenson (W. Earl Brown), his concern prompts Warren's sister, the dazzling and desirable Mary Jenson (Cameron Diaz) to choose Ted as her senior prom date, a fact Ted's pals find hard to believe. However, on prom night, Ted gets his penis caught in his zipper, so the much-desired date never happens. Living in Providence and waxing nostalgic 13 years later, Ted hires Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to locate Mary, and the creepy private investigator finds her in Miami, where she lives with her tan-shriveled roommate Magda (Lin Shaye). After Pat develops a stalker-style fixation on the lovely, unattached Mary, he lies to Ted, telling him that she's now an overweight mother confined to a wheelchair. Employing professional eavesdropping equipment, Pat gathers a dossier on Mary's life and future plans, information that forms the basis for more lies when Pat begins dating her. Sure enough, Mary falls for Pat, although her friend Tucker (Lee Evans) is very suspicious of Pat's claim to be a Harvard-educated architect. Meanwhile, Ted learns the truth but continues to encounter offbeat obstacles as he accelerates to Miami in hopes of finding happiness with his true love. Former Modern Lovers singer Jonathan Richman vocalizes a narrative ballad of onscreen commentary in the Cat Ballou (1965) tradition. Most of the cast sings and frolics to Build Me Up, Buttercup by The Foundations during the closing credits. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
Some movies make you smile, some make you laugh, and some make you laugh so hard you spill Milk Duds all over your date. The Farrelly brothers' There's Something About Mary falls solidly in the latter category. Few films have violated so many taboos and been so successful in their quest for laughs. While scatological and intermittently offensive, There's Something About Mary redeems itself by being both legitimately funny and surprisingly sweet. With a couple of notable exceptions -- the "handicapped" Tucker's flailing becomes gratuitous -- this is a movie with real heart. Amidst the I-can't-believe-they-did-that shocks, you find yourself rooting for Ben Stiller's Ted and Cameron Diaz's Mary to end up together -- they're the most honest, caring people in the film. There's Something About Mary also merits attention for its less-controversial laughs, such as the amusingly absurd musical narrative provided by Jonathan Richman, or Bret Favre's hilarious surprise cameo. Not all the jokes are precisely on-target, but with so many that are, Mary's transgressions are easily forgotten. To say it's not for prudish tastes is a grave understatement. But There's Something About Mary is truly an excellent comedy, one that proves the considerable latitude afforded filmmakers in the permissive late 1990s resulted in more than just an inordinate amount of fart jokes. ~ Matthew Doberman, All Movie Guide
Lin Shaye - Magda; Jeffrey Tambor - Sully; Markie Post - Mary's Mom; Keith David - Mary's Stepfather; W. Earl Brown - Warren; Jonathan Richman - Jonathan; Brett Favre - Himself; Willie Garson - Bob; Harland Williams - Hitchhiker; John-Eliot Jordan - Buttercup Singer; Danny Murphy - Boss' Brother
Credit
Arlan Jay Vetter - Art Director, Mark Charpentier - Associate Producer, Patrick Healy - Associate Producer, Rick Montgomery - Casting, Marc S. Fischer - Co-producer, James B. Rogers - Co-producer, Mary Zophres - Costume Designer, James B. Rogers - First Assistant Director, Bobby Farrelly - Director, Peter Farrelly - Director, Christopher Greenbury - Editor, Bobby Farrelly - Executive Producer, Peter Farrelly - Executive Producer, Jonathan Richman - Composer (Music Score), Happy Walters - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tom Wolfe - Musical Direction/Supervision, Mark Irwin - Cinematographer, Michael Steinberg - Producer, Frank Beddor - Producer, Charles B. Wessler - Producer, Bradley Thomas - Producer, Jonathan "Earl" Stein - Sound/Sound Designer, Edward Decter - Screen Story, John J. Strauss - Screen Story, Edward Decter - Screenwriter, John J. Strauss - Screenwriter, Bobby Farrelly - Screenwriter, Peter Farrelly - Screenwriter, The Foundations - Musical Performer, Richard K. Wright - Properties Master
This sleeper hit was the fourth-highest-grossing movie of 1998 in North America - the highest grossing comedy of the year - and it catapulted Diaz and Stiller into the limelight. The movie has made $369 million worldwide, including $176 million in the U.S. alone.[1]
The film was placed 27th in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (see the 100 Years Series), a list of the 100 funniest movies of the 20th century. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the 4th greatest comedy film of all time.
Awkward and shy high-schooler Ted (Ben Stiller) lands a prom date with his dream girl Mary (Cameron Diaz), just to have it cut short by a painfully humiliating zipper accident (his penis gets caught in his fly).
Thirteen years later, Ted is still in love - maybe even obsessed - with her. On the advice of his best friend Dom (Chris Elliott), he hires sleazy private detective Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to track her down. Healy finds that she is an orthopedic surgeon living in Miami, but he falls in love with the irresistible Mary as well. Healy resorts to lying, cheating, stalking and drugging her dog to win Mary but is exposed by Mary's architect friend, the apparently crippled Tucker (comedian Lee Evans). Tucker, however, turns out to be a fraud himself, a pizza boy who is also in love with Mary and drives potential rivals away by slander, including Brett Favre, the famous American football star (playing himself), whom she almost married.
Ted (aided by Dom) drives down to Florida and seems to have won Mary's love, until an anonymous letter exposes his being less than honest about his link to Healy. While Ted confronts Healy and Tucker, Mary is confronted by Dom, who turns out to be her former boyfriend Woogie, who had "got weird on her" in college, setting up the original prom scenario. Having found out that Tucker also lied about Mary's former love interest, football player Brett Favre, Ted decides that Mary should be with Brett, as Brett was the only one who did not resort to deceit to win Mary. After reuniting Brett and Mary, Ted leaves tearfully but Mary however chases after him, preferring him over Brett. The film concludes with the two engaging in a kiss while a guitarist (Jonathan Richman) who narrates/sings along all the story is accidentally shot by Magda's boyfriend who was trying to kill Ted so he could win over Mary.
Ben Stiller as Ted Stroehmann, an awkward and shy young man who loves - and possibly is obsessed with Mary.
Matt Dillon as Pat Healy, a sleazy private detective whom Ted hires to track Mary down, only to fall in love with her himself.
Chris Elliott as Dom "Woogie" Woganowski, Ted's best friend and has a fetish for Mary's shoes.
Lee Evans as Tucker / Norman Phipps, a Pompano pizza delivery boy who falls in love with Mary and pretends to be a British architect in order to woo her.
