Me, Myself & Irene

Me, Myself & Irene; comedy / tragicomedy, USA, 1999; D: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, S: Jim Carrey, Renée Zellweger, Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, Kate Forster, Chris Cooper, Robert Forster 

Charlie is a kindhearted and gentle cop whose wife cheats on him with a Black dwarf and gives birth to three African American sons before she leaves him. His "sons" grow up with time and the whole town laughs behind Charlie's back until he snaps one day and his suppressed feelings don't manifest a split personality, the angry Hank. Now a schizophrenic, Charlie goes to an other town to protect Irene who is persecuted by mafia. The two of them go through various misadventures, but in the end, even though he loses a finger, they get married.

Although it doesn't seem like it, the Farrelly brothers are more reasonable than some other mainstream authors: they are protectors of losers and outsiders who are their heroes, while others just use them for supporting characters that are quickly forgotten. The comedy of Schizophrenia "Me, Myself and Irene", though, didn't catch them in best shape: like most movies starring Jim Carrey and his forced humor, this one also seems dated today due to uneven tone and a lack of love story between Charlie and Irene. There are a few good jokes here, like Charlie's three African American "children" or when Irene (very good Renee Zellweger) calls Charlie's other personality, which makes him say to himself: "See, she called me, not you!" whereas some "constructive vulgarity" is good, like urinating in the car reservoir. Yet, as a whole, the movie can't hide it's tiresome mood, becoming rather overstretched and ordinary. There simply wasn't enough energy or will placed in the film, which Peter Farrelly accurately described like this: "I think Me, Myself & Irene is our worst film, but the first 30 minutes are as good as anything we've ever done. The problem is with that story is, after those first 30 minutes, it turns into a chase scene. But I don't think the problem is that we went too far, I just think the story wasn't any good".

Grade:+