Me Myself and Irene Review

by Tim Wick

First off, I think it is important to observe that Jim Carrey is inhuman. In Liar Liar (a surprisingly good film, by the way), his son asks him if his face will get stuck if he makes funny faces. Carrey responds "no, and some people make a lot of money doing that" - clearly a good natured jab at the way he makes most of his money. Me Myself and Irene is a fine example of Carrey making money on the fact that his face won't get stuck that way.

I have this love-hate relationship with Carrey. I have grown tired of the standard Jim Carrey schtick, but I can't help enjoying him anyway. I am one of a very few people who actually feels his dramatic work (in The Truman Show and Man on the Moon) was actually pretty good. It's true that he did a little bit of the "Carrey mugging" in The Truman Show, but Man on the Moon was one of the most stunning (and under appreciated) performances of 1999. I'm not negative on him (as I tend to be with Keanu Reeves), but I just wish he would branch out more as I think he is capable of great acting. I fear he will go the route of Jerry Lewis (whom I hate) and be stuck in a single role for as long as people will pay to see him.

Me Myself and Irene is not a stretch for Carrey in any way. We've seen him do this stuff before. Perhaps he was a little more manic in The Mask or a little (a lot) more stupid in Dumb and Dumber, but it's the same stuff you've seen him do before. If it made you laugh before, it will make you laugh here. Fact is, what is a simple film for Carrey is near impossible for just about anyone else.

I'm thinking here about one of the finest physical comedy performances since Steve Martin's possessed walk in All of Me.

What I'm about to say will probably not be a spoiler, but I'm warning you just in case you don't want to know anything about the film.

I'm talking about an extended fight scene between Charlie and Hank - two personalities duking it out in Carrey's troubled psyche. For ten minutes, Carrey beats himself, trips himself, even carries his unconscious self into the back seat of a car. I was nearly unable to breathe because I was laughing so hard. It was nothing short of brilliant and I wondered how much was direction and how much was Carrey interpreting the script direction "Hank and Charlie fight".

The biggest surprise in this film was it's light touch with a lot of it's humor. The Farrelly brothers, who brought us Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin and There's Something about Mary, directed this picture and I expected rapid fire sick jokes. There we plenty of sick jokes, don't get me wrong, but not as many as I expected. The Farrellys might have matured just a tiny bit. The humor was just a bit less forced than in previous outings and I actually appreciated that.

Now the primary problem I had with the film was that I saw it in a nearly vacant theatre. That is about the worst way to see a comedy and I made the same mistake with Being John Malkovich last year. Laughter is contagious and there is not much of it when you are all but alone. That meant that I didn't appreciate the humor as much as I would have in other circumstances.

All in all, though, I enjoyed the film. This is not a great comedy, but it was a good comedy and well worth the trip.

Me Myself and Irene

Three and a Half Beakers
(out of five)

The biggest surprise in this film was it's light touch with a lot of it's humor.