There’s Something About Mary (1998/Fox Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B     Extras: B+     Film: C+

 

 

The Farrelly Brothers (Peter and Bobby) have been around the cinema circle for quite some time now, and have made a slew of comedic films to this point where it’s evident that most of their films are going to contain many of the same comedic elements, timing, and overall sense of humor.  When they made There’s Something About Mary in 1998, their foundation as filmmakers was not completely in tact having only made Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin prior to this, but it was with this particular film that the foundation really began to form and looking back on the film 10+ years later, you can see the origins of their style. 

 

Oddly enough I never really had any interest in seeing the film when it first arrived in theaters, had seen snippets of it as it ran almost continuously on various TV stations from time to time, mostly comedy central, but could never really start the film from the beginning to really capture the whole thing.  I eventually was able to snag an entire viewing of the film and was caught by surprise at just how ridiculous the film is and yet still funny from time to time.  It’s by no means a masterpiece of cinema, but occasionally the film gets a few things right and it’s for this reason that the film is still memorable to fans and is often cited as their favorite Farrelly Bros. film. 

 

This film sets up the stylistic qualities that are found in every film of their since, you see it in Me, Myself and Irene (released in 2000 and reviewed on Blu-ray here), as well as in 2001’s Shallow Hal, and 2003’s underrated Stuck on You (reviewed here).  It’s hard to say if the duo are tired of making comedies like this just yet, they’ve slowed down their pace as of late making only a few films recently, the more recent Fever Pitch from 2005 and The Heartbreak Kid in 2007, which was a bomb despite bringing together Ben Stiller and his father Jerry.

 

The film is easy to root for as well as we catch up with Ben Stiller’s character of Ted as he recalls his fascination from High School with a girl named Mary (Cameron Diaz) who meant the world to him despite their brief time together.  He never stopped thinking about her, and now is on the hunt to try and find out what happened to the girl of his dreams.  He enlists the help of a creepy sleuth (Matt Dillon) to help track her down, he finds her, but is also wooed by her charms and the whole “total package” that makes her irresistible.  These are not the only two men after her though, the rest of the film is dedicated to the cat and mouse chase that takes place as Mary finds out who is real and who is not in her crazy dating life.  

 

For this Blu-ray release of There’s Something About Mary, there are many things done well, and a few disappointments.  The technical qualities are definitely the worst part, as we get a very lackluster 1080p 1.85 X 1 AVC @ 21.5 MBPS picture that makes the film look smudgy with oversaturated colors and unnatural skin tones.  The film has been released several times on DVD, and I never recall this being quite an issue then, although the film looks more detailed and refined due to the full High Definition experience, most fans will be unhappy with this transfer.  The DTS-HD 5.1 mix is certainly sufficient, but never a fully sonic experience as most of the time it’s forward heavy with it’s dialogue and directional effects, there are several songs featured throughout, but even those are given a predominately forward soundstage mix. 

 

The real draw for this release though will be the fact that this is a definitive version in terms of the extras.  On DVD the film had been released with a variety of extras, here we get everything on this 50GB disc including the branched extended cut of the film, which adds more footage in a seamless way, plus two types of directors commentary, the first is a more laid-back version, while the other is more scene-specific and having both is a nice touch here.  There is also the writer’s commentary, plus clay animated titles with optional director’s commentary, and the AMC Backstory featurette, plus about half a dozen featurettes on various characters and production aspects, along with outtakes and the Dandy Warhols music video.  This rounds off to be a stacked release with loads of extras that fans mostly have seen at some point or another, having them all here is a great asset, it’s only too bad that the picture wasn’t such an issue.

 

 

-   Nate Goss