The Nutty State Trooper
"Me, Myself & Irene" comes under a group of movies which when you first watched them they were great but once viewed again you begin to question your own judgement. It's not unusual I can think if loads of movies and not just comedies which I thought were brilliant the first time I saw them only to realise many years later that they were nothing but average. But to put it bluntly "Me, Myself & Irene" was fun when I watched in 2000 but over a decade later it most certainly isn't the great comedy I thought it was, just a typical Farrelly comedy.
Charlie Baileygates (Jim Carrey - Man on the Moon) is a popular Rhode Island State Trooper who married his sweetheart Layla (Traylor Howard). But it all started to go wrong when his sons were born because to everyone else it was obvious that Charlie is not the father but he keeps on going and he keeps on going, bottling everything up when Layla leaves him. But eventually it all gets too much and Charlie's secret side comes out in the tough talking, devious Hank who is the total opposite of Charlie. After an incident involving a little girl and a barber's salon Charlie is sent to escort Irene P. Waters (Renée Zellweger - The Bachelor) to upstate New York but what should be a simple trip turns into a nightmare as corrupt cops are after Irene and with Charlie forgetting his medicine Hank keeps on coming out.
There is a really easy way to describe "Me, Myself & Irene" it is "The Nutty Professor" but instead of a romantic storyline we have a crime storyline. As such we have the side of the movie where we have Charlie and his alter ego Hank, Charlie being the placid good guy, Hank being the total opposite. And like in "The Nutty Professor" it is the extreme personality of Hank which provides the laughs from the first time he appears and we see him dunking a naughty girl in a fountain to his constant grabbing of Irene's breasts. To be totally honest whilst there is this storyline which sees Irene and Charlie/Hank having to go on the run from the corrupt police the real focus of the movie is on Hank.
But the humour is not just about Hank and we have a variety of other jokes from the placid Charlie ending up in a fight with the limo driver on his wedding day to him dealing with an injured cow he finds on the highway. It is random and daft which is what you expect from the Farrelly brothers but unfortunately also a case of hit and miss. For every joke which works there are plenty which don't or should that be they worked the first time I watched "Me, Myself & Irene" but now having grown up a little they don't.
The one thing which doesn't change about "Me, Myself & Irene" is that Jim Carrey's performance is still good fun. Again it is what you expect from Carrey as he pulls faces and with him playing a split personality it allows him to deliver double the comedy. In fact whilst Carrey stars alongside Renée Zellweger, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins and Chris Cooper they all end up in his shadow as he runs riot with both Charlie & Hank.
What this all boils down to is that "Me, Myself & Irene" is still a fun comedy but one that if you've only watched it once and loved it then don't rewatch it because it is not as funny the second time around.
