20th Century Fox presents

Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

Charlie: I have to take a pill every six hours or I feel...funny.
Irene: What's it called?
Charlie: Advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage.

Stars: Jim Carrey, Renee Zellweger
Other Stars: Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, Jerod Mixon, Michael Bowman, Richard Jenkins, Rob Moran
Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly

MPAA Rating: R for sexual content, crude humor, strong language and some violence
Run Time: 01h:56m:28s
Release Date: 2001-01-23
Genre: comedy

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
C+	B	B+	B-	A+

 

DVD Review

Only certain directors are of the disposition that the more offensive the material the better; the Farrelly brothers seem to be of that disposition. Think making fun of schizophrenia sufferers, albinos, and the height-challenged makes for the best comedy? Then their latest film Me, Myself, and Irene is just for you. If not, well you might want to skip the rest of the review.

Charlie (Carrey) is a member of the Rhode Island State Police Force, but when he can't hold back his anger anymore, his personality splits, creating Hank. But when Hank goes crazy, Charlie's career is in danger of coming to a close. His boss (Forster) orders him to deliver a prisoner, Irene (Zellweger), to a New York police station. But, when it turns out that Irene, who may or may not know something she shouldn't about a crooked golf course she worked at, is being sought by two crooked cops (Cooper and Jenkins) both Charlie and Hank must protect her.

The biggest problem with the film is that it just isn't funny. The Farrelly's stay away from semen jokes this time, but that is not to say that the jokes in the film are tame. One needs to look no further than Charlie's conversation with a dildo. Admittedly, I did chuckle a few times throughout the course of the film, but not enough by a long shot.

The Farrelly's have never really been known as artistic directors as much as they have been known for their humor. But with Me, Myself, and Irene they seem to be more focused on creating a romance between Hank/Charlie and Irene, and less intent on creating laughs. Their other problem is that while Hank is often at times hilarious, there are very few times where Charlie generates the amount of laughs his other half does. A smarter script would have evened them out a bit and made Hank a less likeable character.

That is not to say that Carrey doesn't put forth a tremendous performance as both characters. Carrey transforms himself from one to the other so easily that it is a sheer joy to watch. After honing his acting skills in The Truman Show and Man On The Moon, Carrey has shown that he is a gifted dramatic actor. Yet with Me, Myself, and Irene he leaves no doubt that he is also one of the best comedic actors out there. Zellweger on the other hand is a bit flat as Irene, showing no range whatsoever. Her scenes with Carrey are often dull, relying on him to carry the film on his own.

Rating for Style: C+
Rating for Substance: B

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.85:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: This 1.85:1 anamorphic THX€® certified transfer for Me, Myself, and Irene is, like most other Fox transfers, excellent. Colors are vivid, and the greens of the Rhode Island countryside are beautiful. There are a few moments at the start of the film where some dirt is noticeable on the print, but luckily it goes away quickly. Black levels and sharpness are consistently fine, and there were no moments of artifacting or edge enhancement.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English and French	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: Primarily a dialogue and front speaker heavy mix, the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix does the best with what is offered. Voices and music are clear and never muddy or quiet, and the bass on the music heavy soundtrack is tight and clean. The surrounds come alive to fill in ambient noise or music, yet they never really show themselves off. Overall this is about as average a mix as you will ever hear, but at least it is done well. Separate Dolby 2.0 channel mixes are provided in both English and French.

Audio Transfer Grade: B- 

Disc Extras

Animated menu with music
Scene Access with 20 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English and French with remote access
2 Original Trailer(s)
3 TV Spots/Teasers
10 Deleted Scenes
7 Featurette(s)
1 Feature/Episode commentary by Directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly
Packaging: Amaray
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: RSDL

Extra Extras:

1. Still photo gallery
2. Breakout music video

Extras Review: Having heard the previous two commentary tracks by the brother Farrelly on both Kingpin and There's Something About Mary, I wasn't really expecting much with the track for Me, Myself, and Irene. I was a bit surprised. While the track is more of the same "That is so and so, and we know him for our days back in Rhode Island," it does delve a bit more into some amusing stories about the making of the film. This is the brother's best track yet.

The other high point of the extra features section is the inclusion of ten deleted scenes, viewable by themselves or put into the film via extended branching. These are all very funny scenes that may also be viewed with optional director's commentary. Another nice touch is that in the extensions of scenes already in the film the deleted portion of the scene is in color while the existing material is in black and white.

Six short Making-of vignettes are offered and are each equally more amusing that the traditional extended trailer "Making-ofs". Speaking of the extended theatrical EPK's, there is one included for Me, Myself, and Irene. Running a short five to six minutes, it offers nothing more than a few interviews with the cast and crew. The video for the Foo Fighters song Breakout is indeed worth a look, being that it is a very good song. Two trailers, three television spots, as well as a still photo gallery round out the extras.

Extras Grade: A+
 

Final Comments

While the audio and video transfers are done very well, and the special features are more than adequate, I can't recommend the disc unless you are a fan of the film. Rent it and see what you think, your mileage may vary.

Kevin Clemons 2001-02-26