Alas, what sometimes looks like a sure thing on paper turns out to be a disaster onscreen. Such is the case with "Me, Myself & Irene." Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who have made their reputations with "gross-out" humor films, have forgotten the importance of wit, concentrating instead on offensive humor which fails to tickle the funny bone.
The film begins in 1982 as we meet Charley Baileygates (Jim Carrey), an easygoing and well-liked Rhode Island state trooper. Charlie is in a state of bliss as he marries his childhood sweetheart, the blond and beautiful Layla (Traylor Howard). Charlie is so in love with Layla that he turns a blind eye to the fact that she has been cheating on him. Even after his wife gives birth to triplets who are African-American, Charlie take on the role of being a loving father who actually kids himself into believing that they are his own biological children. It is only when Layla leaves him by jumping in the car with her paramour (and French kissing him) that Charlie realizes he has been played for a fool.
To make matters even worse, all of Charlie's neighbors in Jamestown, R.I. have also been laughing behind his back at his naiveté. When he tells a five year-old that it is not a good idea to skip rope in the middle of the street, the little girl snaps back, "My daddy says that you are a joke and that I don't have to listen to you!" All of the rage which Charlie has been keeping inside of him is released in Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde form as sweet-tempered Charlie morphs into his alter ego, the foul-mouthed Hank Evans. Unlike in most cinematic schizophrenic plots, Charlie and Hank become aware of each other, and each detests the other.
The film has promise at this point but then quickly falls apart when Renee Zelleweger appears on screen. To be fair, the blame doesn't fall with Zellweger, although her job, as it is in most of the films she has been in, is to look like a confused but lovable kewpie doll.
Zellweger's character, Irene Waters, has been picked up by the Rhode Island Highway Patrol for driving a stolen vehicle. Irene has no idea that her boyfriend stole the vehicle, and is even more flabbergasted to learn that she is wanted by upstate New York law enforcement officials for being an accessory to a crime. It is Charlie's job to escort her back to Massena, New York. In a plot loosely stolen from the humorous 1977 Clint Eastwood film, "The Gauntlet," Charlie soon discovers that both he and Irene are marked for death by a partnership of corrupt police and mob thugs. It is his duty to get Irene to safety, and, of course, romance ensues.
It is script writing of the sloppiest nature that we never even learn what crime has been committed or why everybody wants to see Irene and Charlie dead. I guess the Farrellys figured that we would all be laughing so much at Jim Carrey's antics that we would conveniently forget about even the most basic rudiments of plot.
Let's talk about these alleged chuckles. Let's see. Oh yes, we have Charlie's sons, all of whom have near-genius IQs and are wanted by all the top colleges in the country, though they speak as if the only culture they have ever absorbed came from Dr. Dre rap records. If your idea of a good bellylaugh is watching Jim Carrey plug six bullets into an injured cow lying on the side of a road, poke fun at a myopic albino waiter, or beat himself up for 20 minutes at the end of the film as Charlie and Hank duke it out, then by all means ignore my review and plunk down your money to see this celluloid piece of trash.
My advice for you, your friends and your loved ones is to avoid "Me, Myself & Irene."
Staring: Jim Carrey & Renee Zellweger
Written, Produced & Directed by: Peter & Bobby Farrelly
By Lloyd Carroll
