Me, Myself, and Irene (R)

“Me, Myself, and Irene” the 2000 comedy by the Farrelly Brothers, just has something about it. Its presentation is chaotic, its jokes are crass, and the movie had the potential to be an irreverent flop. Perhaps in the hands of lesser actors it would have been. But Jim Carrey, Renée Zellweger, and a talented and widely varied cast make this a memorable comedy to come back to again and again. I had last watched the movie over ten years ago, but watching it again this week was reminded why I fell in love with this movie in the first place.

The movie stars Jim Carrey as Charlie Baileygates, a mild-mannered if not clinically shy patrolman for the Rhode Island State Troopers, who, at the beginning of movie, seems to have the perfect life. He’s named the best Trooper on the force, and is engaged to be married to a beautiful girl, Leila (Traylor Howard). However, fate has more interesting things in store for Charlie – Leila dumps Charlie shortly after their wedding and runs away with a midget limo driver. This act sets the stage for a life of avoiding anything that reminds him of that pain: sticking up for himself, asserting himself, friends, and, of course, love.

The movie takes off with a series of plot gimmicks and raucous comedy. Charlie has a schizophrenic breakdown after being treated like crap by virtually everyone in the town who doesn’t respect him. He develops a split personality, Hank, who sticks up for Charlie in a way Charlie never could. However, his means are less than socially acceptable  in a series of stunts that include embarrassing a woman in a convenience store, dunking a little girl’s head in the city fountain, and taking a crap on his neighbor’s lawn. All of this is of course made all the more funny due to Carrey’s extreme talents at facial acting which is top-of-the-line.

Charlie/Hank is now required to take a break from work because of his mental condition, and there’s no better time than to escort a girl with a warrant out for her arrest in Upstate, NY, Irene Waters (Renee Zellweger, “Bridget Jones’ Diary”) to the Police Station in Messina. However, what should be a simple escort turns out to be more than either bargained for, as Irene’s ex-boyfriend Dicky is intent on killing her to shut her up about certain going-ons in his shady golf course business. Thus Charlie/Hank set out to protect Irene and get to the bottom of the mess.

“Me, Myself, and Irene” is a movie less described by plot, however, and rather by its laughs and its characters. As Charlie/Hank, Jim Carrey does an amazing job portraying a split personality in a believable fashion. When he’s Charlie, he’s vulnerable, defensive, shy, and frustrated. When he’s Hank, he’s an arrogant, obnoxious, take-no-crap kind of guy. However, just when Hank threatens to become completely unlikeable, he confesses that the reason for his involvement at all in the film is due to Charlie’s broken heart and inability to deal with his emotions. “I was a big piece of the personality pie back then,” he says. “But then Charlie went numb and I went AWAL.”

Renee Zellweger does a fairly good job in the film, especially juggling the emotions of handling Charlie one minute and Hank the next. Her place in the film, as a plot device and possible love interest for Charlie (and a sex interest for Hank—one scene where she can’t tell the two apart makes for an interesting circumstance) adds drama to a movie that could have been overly comedic. Zellweger’s ability to turn the camera on herself, and expose her vulnerabilities and personality quirks also makes her character shine, and one we want to root for.

However, the best acting in the movie, and the most endearing scenes, involve Charlie’s three kids, Jamal, Lee Harvey, and Shonté Jr. (Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, and Jared Mixon). The three black, now High School students, are Charlie’s pride and joy, having been left to him by his wife when she left him for a black man. They are funny, crass, intelligent, and their interaction with each other, and with Charlie, will have your sides splitting with laughter. One scene shows the endearment Charlie has for them and their bond: “I’m not leaving until tomorrow morning, but you remember the rules—no bitches after 11.” Initially being the only people in town to respect Charlie, the three become instrumental in the plot, helping their dad from afar as he goes through his Hank shenanigans and tries to end the plot to have Irene killed off.

I’ve seen reviews that labeled “Me, Myself, and Irene” a lesser production by the Farrelly brothers, after the ‘superior’ “There’s Something About Mary,” but really this is not the case. “Mary” was crass, humorous at times, but really lacking in the ability to create truly likeable characters and a plot that made sense. If you need to see a Farrelly brother’s comedy, this is the one to watch. “Me, Myself, and Irene” has it all: comedy, action, romance, and it somehow knows, amidst all this, how to pull on your heartstrings in all the right places. The acting is top-notch, and while the plot is not overly complicated or dense, its not supposed to be. The movie is about change, and as Charlie moves toward finally standing up for himself and moving on from his ex-wife without Hank’s help, the movie comes to a nice close, giving audiences everything they could want and more.

– by Mark Ziobro