Ten Reasons to Love Me, Myself & Irene

Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger Star in Farrelly Brothers Comedy

Mar 26, 2009 Leslie C. Halpern

This crude comic masterpiece from 2000 may be Carrey's funniest film ever.

Jim Carrey portrays Charlie Baileygates, a Rhode Island state trooper who suffers from advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage. Other than that, he’s one heck of a nice guy.

Right at the time of his psychic break, his boss orders him to transport a flaky blond golf course groundskeeper named Irene Waters (Renee Zellweger) out of the state – in part to get rid of Charlie for awhile. Their trip leads from one catastrophe to another when Charlie underestimates Irene’s problems and then leaves behind his medication. As they travel together, they grow individually and share an emotional journey with each other.

Ten Reasons to Love Me, Myself & Irene

  1. When Carrey transforms into his alter ego Hank Evans, his face contorts into positions and expressions that would have to be computer-generated with lesser comedians. Despite Carrey’s outrageous antics and larger-than-life persona as Hank, his sweet and gentle depiction of Charlie helps keep the emotional highs and lows of the film in good balance.
  2. Zellweger is delightfully ditzy as Irene, playing scenes for laughs in such a natural way that she seems almost unaware of her comic gifts.
  3. Carrey and Zellweger display wonderful on-screen chemistry, which carried over off-screen into a temporary romantic relationship. It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing either role.
  4. In his movie debut, Michael Bowman – playing a lonely albino – reportedly used his own high-powered prescription glasses (with attached telescope) in his role as Whitey, a.k.a., Casper.
  5. Serious actors Chris Cooper (as a corrupt lieutenant), Robert Forster (as an ineffective colonel), and Farrelly Brothers favorite Richard Jenkins (as nasty Agent Boshane) make the funny scenes that much funnier in comparison to their seriousness.
  6. Through his ex-wife (Traylor Howard) and her African American dwarf lover (Tony Cox), Charlie has three over-sized, foul-mouthed, African American genius triplets. These snack-munching, Richard Pryor-watching, mental heavyweights argue astrophysics in Ebonics. Everything about these guys (Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, and Jerod Mixon) is comical.
  7. In fact, the humor in Me, Myself & Irene never stops. The jokes are multi-layered and while some are throwaway lines, others return as callback jokes later in the movie. Written by the Farrelly Brothers and Mike Cerrone, the film uses every form of humor imaginable, including irony, double entendre, physical comedy, sight gags, slapstick, hyperbole, understatement, metaphor, non sequitur, and, of course, the Farrelly Brothers trademark gross-out-humor.
  8. Women can enjoy the fact that even though Irene is a self-proclaimed anorexic ditz, she can still outrun, outthink, and outwit Charlie and Hank (and the thugs that chase after her). She also manages to put up a great fight when necessary.
  9. Rex Allen, Jr. narrates Charlie’s story, which starts 18 years earlier when most of the trouble began in his life. The good-old-boy narration provides background and structure for the story, which sometimes veers off into comic contrivances and strange subplots (such as Irene’s golf course career).
  10. The Farrelly Brothers are two of the few directors who feature actors and extras in the end credits whose scenes were cut from the film. Not only are their names mentioned, but still photographs from their scenes show exactly where they were and what they were doing. The directors deserve credit for crediting others.

Me, Myself & Irene on DVD

  • Me, Myself & Irene (Special Edition)
  • A police officer with a split personality goes on a road trip with a ditzy woman.
  • Starring Jim Carrey, Renee Zellweger, Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins
  • Director: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly
  • Run Time: 116 minutes
  • Rating: R (for sexual content, crude humor, strong language, and some violence)
  • DVD Bonus Features Include: Commentary by Bobby and Peter Farrelly; Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary; Production Vignettes; DVD-ROM Game; and Foo Fighters Music Video “Breakout.”

To learn more about Me, Myself & Irene, visit Internet Movie Database.

The copyright of the article Ten Reasons to Love Me, Myself & Irene in Romantic Films/Comedies is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Ten Reasons to Love Me, Myself & Irene in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Jim Carrey Stars in Me, Myself & Irene , Copyright 2000 Twentieth Century Fox
Jim Carrey Stars in Me, Myself & Irene
   
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