Fun Summer Movies: THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998)

Release Date: 15 July 1998. Stars Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott, Keith David, Markie Post, Sarah Silverman, Lin Shaye.

The surprise comedy smash during the summer of 1998 was There's Something About Mary, written and directed by The Farrelly Brothers, who had made Dumb and Dumber with Jim Carrey into a smash four years ago. The duo strike back with an even better comedy which shows Cameron Diaz as a true comedienne. She plays Mary Jenson, the gorgeous high schooler who geek challenged Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) chats up one day and gets an invite to prom from her. Well things don't go as planned and Ted has the unfortunate situation of getting his manhood caught in his zipper which produces one of the best gags and most outrageous scenes you will ever see in a comedy.

The infamous scene with Ted getting his you know what caught in his zipper

Flash forward 13 years and Ted still pines for Mary and hires a private detective named Pat Healy (a surprisingly good comedic performance by Matt Dillon) to track her down so he can finally start a relationship with her. Healy finds Mary living down in Miami but falls in love himself and reports back to Ted that Mary now is a grosteque woman with multiple kids living in the slums. And then Healy jolts down to Miami to start romancing Mary.

Matt Dillon as the piece of work detective Pat Healy

Well Ted finds out that Healy lied about Mary and races down to Miami to find his true love. But he not only has to deal with Healy but also deal a guy named Tucker (played by Lee Evans) who also loves Mary too.

Mary, after using some of Ted's special hair gel...

Mistaken identity and all kinds of confusion add to the hilarity to one of the funniest movies ever made. There are some gross out gags which are the Farrelly trademarks but there are also tons of laughs from everybody in the cast. Cameron Diaz gets to shine in her first lead role and you can see why everyone falls in love with her. Stiller is quite good in one of his first big roles. And Dillion shines in a rare comedy role. Also great support from Chris Elliott, Keith David, Lin Shaye, Markie Post and Sarah Silverman. You will have to see Mary several times to catch all the jokes that the Farrelly Brothers throws at you. And you will love every minute of it.

The Mary everyone is in love with..

NOTES:

The film was one of the biggest hits during the summer of 1998, racking up a huge $176 million in North America alone. Making it one of the biggest comedy films ever.

The opening scenes of the film are set in Cumberland, Rhode Island. This is an actual town in Rhode Island where the Farrelly Brothers grew up.


Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.


After this film, Ben Stiller went on to star in several successful comedies such as Meet The Parents, Zoolander, Along Came Polly, Starsky & Hutch, Dodgeball, Night at the Museum and Tropic Thunder.



Favorite Romantic Films - THE HOLIDAY (2006)

This being February, I decided to post about some of my favorite romantic films. I mean I dedicated the whole month of October to scary movies, and the least I could do is the same thing for romantic movies this month. And it will be a mixed bag of classic and modern films. Up first: The Holiday (2006)


Well done romantic comedy/drama that features all four leads in great form. Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz are women who are having men trouble and decide to switch homes over the Christmas holiday. Each will stay at each other houses to get away from their normal routine and away from their significant opposites. Kate comes to LA while Cameron goes to England. Jack Black and Jude Law play the new men who come into their lives. A very pleasing film with solid performances by all, especially Kate Winslet. It's a crime she hasn't won an Oscar yet but I predict she will have several by the time her career is done. Cameron is funny as usual and gorgeous. Jack Black gives a surprising engaging performance as the guy who falls for Winslet. And Jude Law who in past movies can be very annoying is actually pretty good here. And veteran Eli Wallach almost steals the movie as a writer from Hollywood's golden age who becomes friends with Winslet. You will laugh and cry and enjoy this wonderful movie.



Graham: "Long distance relationships can work, you know."
Amanda: "Really? I can't make one work when I live in the same house with someone"

Knight and Day is one hell of a fun summer movie

 

Just went and saw the new summer movie, Knight and Day starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. And I thought it was an exhilarating and fun movie. For all the doubters and naysayers who loathe Tom Cruise now for whatever reason, this movie shows why he is a true movie star. Cruise plays American super spy Roy Miller (think of Miller as a kind of off kilter Ethan Hunt, Cruise's character from the Mission Impossible films). He runs into June Haver, a restorer of classic cars (a vibrant Diaz) aboard a plane flight to Boston. The two meet cute and make small talk before things get kinda crazy. This flight happens to be full of agents who want this new energy device that Miller is trying to keep safe. So while June is freshening up in the bathroom, Miller goes ballistic on the agents in some intense and cool fight scenes. He even has to fight the pilot which leads to the next problem, flying and landing this huge 747 passenger plane without killing himself or June. This all happens in the first 20 minutes and it sets the tone for the rest of the film. After a semi successful landing, Roy explains to June what has happened and then drugs her. She wakes up the next morning back in her home like last night's events never happened.

Well, the FBI tracks her down led by the wily agent Fitzgerald (played with all smarminess by Peter Sarsgaard) who question June about Roy. They are transporting her to a safe location to debrief her when Roy literally comes flying in to land on the vehicle. That begins another wild chase and shoot-out that is cool as hell. As Roy has to shoot the bad guys from the hood of the car June is driving on the interstate. It's awesome. And it appears to be all good old fashioned stunt work and not CGI. Soon Roy and June are being chased by his own people and the bad guys who want this new technology. Oh and Roy has to keep the inventor of said device safe as well. The trio end up being whisked from a tropical island hide out to a train bound for Austria, which features a brutal fight between Roy and a would be assassin. Things get all wrapped up in Spain during the running of the bulls. Knight and Day is like a throwback to those 60's spy films with a light tone, gorgeous locations, fun filled action and a jazzy sound score. This film is not too serious like the Daniel Craig Bond films which I also love. But here Knight and Day moves wonderfully thanks to the charisma of Cruise and the charm of Diaz. It also shows that Mr. Cruise still has what it takes to handle this type of film. He can still kick ass with the best of them. I had never seen him in so may fight scenes in one film before and he's awesome. I actually like his character of Roy more than I do of his other super spy character Ethan Hunt. While Hunt is logical and straight faced, Miller is more humorous and more dangerous. And he is very good at what he does. Diaz is an engaging presence as June as she at first doesn't believe Roy but then can't leave his side. They form a solid relationship and keep the movie going at a fluid pace. We enjoyed this film from the opening scene and I can't understand all the bad reviews by critics and fans. This is what a summer film should be: exciting, fun, and showcasing the talents of a true movie star. And I love the catch phrase that Roy always says doing tense moments... "I got this". Amid all the explosions and chases, Cruise also manages to sneak in some subtle acting in the quiet scenes he spends with June. Good stuff. And to all the people that dislike Cruise for their own personal reasons because of his recent off-screen antics, I say forget that stuff and just look at the actor and enjoy his films while he is still making good quality work. After all this is the man who has on his resume Top Gun, Risky Business, The Firm, A Few Good Men, The Last Samurai, Collateral, Jerry Maguire just to name a few.
B+