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There's Something [More] About Mary - Collector's Edition

There's something about Mary, alright, but I'm not sure I see it. Truthfully, I don't know what anyone ever saw in "There's Something About Mary," a film that hasn't changed a bit for me in the passage of two years since I first laid eyes on it and said, "Huh?" You see, I'm one of those hopeless people who allows the hype to get the better of me, and ends up building my hopes for what usually ends up being a major letdown. Such is the case here, as I'm left wondering what everyone found so funny about things like violence-prone mentally-challenged people, or the "hair gel" sight gag that sounds better than it looks, or the constant presence of a guitarist and a drummer as the sing the perils of Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller), whose decades-old crush on his high-school sweetheart Mary (Cameron Diaz) lands him in a series of disastrous situations. ***

First things first, let's dish out the plot: "bleeder" Ted has loved Mary for most of his adult life, but never had the gumption to look her up. Until one day, he gathers up the courage to inquire the services of private detective Pat Healy (Matt Dillon), a so-called "mook" who makes a trip down to Miami to seek Mary out and report back to Ted on how she looks, what's she up to know, etc. Of course, Ted never counted on the notion that Pat would instantly fall for Mary, and make up crazy, insane lies in order to thwart his competition, therefore leaving him free and open to woo Mary into his arms by playing the role of her ideal man. Sooner or later, Ted finds out, goes haywire, things get nutty... you just have to watch it. ***

When I first saw the film in 2000, I wasn't too impressed with it; having said that, and having seen many more movies and one or two more Farrelly Brothers films, I can honestly say that I'm still unamused by what many have hailed as one of the decade's most memorable comedies. Maybe I'm just hard to please when it comes to laughs, or maybe I prefer my gross-out gags a certain way, but nothing about "Mary" was able to garner even the slightest chuckle from my increasingly comatose body. The whole zipper incident that takes place early on in the film might have worked had it not felt so forced, so scripted, so calculated, and the same goes for things like the pet dog, Puffy, which has since inspired the wave of movies that have to have the requisite animal character. What really makes me wonder about "Mary" is its inclination towards the mentally challenged, with a tone whose duality gives rise to both sympathy as well as banter. It's as if the Farrellys are trying to have their cake and eat it, too, as they did with "Shallow Hal" by casting sylphlike Gwyneth Paltrow as the fat chick. ***

Of course, no matter what I say or how much I despise the movie, "There's Something About Mary" has left its mark. It made Cameron Diaz into the star that she is, while simultaneously boosting the Farrellys to new heights, as many praised them for what was (and still is) considered their best movie to date. It grossed nearly seven times its $23 million budget, and was one of the most successful films of 1998. It has garnered multitudes of fans, all of whom perhaps still continue to ponder the question, "How'd you get the beans above the frank?" But for me, this overlong, overrated, overly-tiresome film isn't funny, isn't inspired, and isn't even as innovative as it thinks it is. When it was all over and done with, there really wasn't anything about "Mary" besides the theory that the male seed could keep one's hair in place in winds in excess of 100 miles per hour, provided you have enough in stock.

A noticeable improvement over the previos non-anamorphic transfer. Measured at 1.85:1, everything here looks sharper, clearer, and more defined than before, with color saturation in peak performance mode, and contrast and shadow detail looking very gorgeous throughout. Gone are most of the compression artifacts of the previous transfer, and in its place is enhanced clarity and sharper edges, with minimal halos, and no source print blemishes. There's something about this transfer! ***

Also worthy of praise is the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix, which may not be up to the standards of those you see on big blockbusters, but doesn't really need to be. For what it's worth, everything here sounds pretty good, especially the music, which has more ambiance and surround presence than it did previously. Deep bass is infrequently used, but isn't too terribly defined. Dialogue sounds natural throughout, and front-end separation and atmospheric sounds are well-rendered. Pretty decent.

Well, all I can say is that after spending hours upon hours with the supplements of "There's Something [More] About Mary," I never want to look at hair gels or small dogs ever again. Having already been released on DVD once, Fox is going back and giving the movie a bigger, better treatment in the way of extras that fans will absolutely gobble up. Can't say that it did anything for me, but here's the general lowdown... ***

Disc One houses two different versions of the movie: one is the two-hour theatrical cut, the other a special extended edition offering fifteen minutes of new footage, or thirteen new scenes in all, however you wish to look at it. To be honest, coming from my standpoint, the new material isn't any more or less pleasing than what was there to begin with, just to give you an idea of what to expect. Think of it in terms of all those "American Pie" DVD where they claim to give you more for your buck, but don't really deliver much in the long run. ***

On this disc we also have the original opening sequence, a claymation creation that can be played back seamlessly with either version of the movie. As a bonus, there is also some additional commentary to accompany this scene, also available for playback with the regular commentary track. *** Then we move on to Disc Two, which is completely loaded with a deluge of material, most of which will find a soft spot in the hearts of fans, and some of which seems completely pointless. We begin with the documentary "Getting Behind Mary," which is a collection of home video footage shot during principle photography, intercut with interviews from cast members like Matt Dillon, Cameron Diaz, and Ben Stiller. This is pretty good as far as looking behind-the-scenes, but I'm left wondering how many "Mary" fans are really going to care. Then we move on to two featurettes: the AMC "Backstory" piece, and the Comedy Central "Reel Comedy" special, both of which feature interviews with several members of the cast and crew, all of which relates back to the phenomenal success of the film and its inspiration for countless others. ***

Following on the heels of this is footage from the MTV Movie Awards, at which "Mary" won Best Fight Scene between Ben Stiller and Puffy the Dog. Whoopie! Break out the champagne! Then we have the section entitled "Marketing Mary," which contains the theatrical trailer, thirteen TV spots, and international poster concepts. ***

Then we move on to a fairly big collection of various interviews with different members of the filmmaking crew, beginning with cast interviews from Stiller, Dillon, Diaz, and Chris Elliott, all of whom look back on the production with fond memories. I wasn't really impressed with the piece "Up a Tree with Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins," which basically states that the two musicians got their rise to fame from being featured in "Mary" as the two onscreen singers. Equally uninteresting are the conversations with Brett Favre, who seems to be stuck in a haze for most of his discussion, and W. Earl Brown, whose talk of playing the retarded character gets old rather quick. The worst of them all, however, is Harland Williams, who seems to have no clue what he's talking about, or what he's even doing there in the first place. At one point, he belches, pauses, and starts giggling; perhaps the Farrellys cast the wrong person to play the mentally-challenged Warren. ***

The film's two biggest sight gags get a breakdown in two new featurettes, beginning with "Puffy, Boobs, and Balls," in which we learn about all the special prosthetic secrets behind the creation of Magda, for which actress Lin Shaye had to wear a faux face, and the infamous saggy chest. We also see some footage of the model dog that was used during the scenes for which the real Puffy could not be cast. Then we get to see how the zipper scene was fashioned, and let me tell ya: you won't believe how much work went into such a simple-looking ordeal. Closing out the disc is a presentation of scenes for which eight different languages are given; a karaoke piece and a music video; and outtakes.