Our motto here at 'Three Movie Buffs' is 'We waste our money, so you don't have to'. And never was this truer than in the case of Me, Myself, & Irene.
The movie tells the story of a repressed and timid Rhode Island State Police Officer, played by Jim Carrey, who, after years of holding in his anger, becomes schizophrenic, with supposedly hilarious results. It is his job to escort Renée Zellweger back to upstate New York to face certain trumped up criminal charges, but is really just an excuse for the Farrelly brothers to make another road picture.
With this setup, Carrey starring, and the Farrelly brothers directing, this sounds like the surefire formula for a very funny film. With all of these things going for it, on top of the anticipation of this movie, I found myself laughing at the beginning of this movie, almost by default. I expected to laugh, and therefore, I laughed, but after about an hour into this nearly two-hour movie, the laughs become few and far between, and without any great plot and only a lukewarm romance, there isn't anything else to keep your attention.
Carrey does his best with limited material, and Zellweger is appropriately cute as the female lead, but whatever chemistry they might have was obviously reserved for their off screen relationship. The rest of the cast is eminently forgettable.
The Farrellys' direction and script seem rather timid after their previous films. Oh sure, there are a few shocking scenes, but overall you feel they aren't going far enough. The funniest scenes in the movie are when they go completely over the top, as in the case with the little girl in the fountain, and later with the wounded cow. Or perhaps they're just living with the problem of having to top themselves with every film, and are finding it harder to do with each movie.
