They don’t call them “the gross-out guys” for nothing.
Director-writers Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, the brother team responsible for the outrageous–some say offensive– comedies “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb & Dumber,” are back with another shock-laugh fest: “Me, Myself & Irene.”
Jim Carrey plays a Rhode Island state trooper with a nasty case of split personality: He’s nice, friendly Charlie, but he’s also foul-mouthed, brutish Hank, both of whom are vying for the attention of Irene. Irene is played by Renee Zellweger, who’s on the run from some creeps.
But the heck with the plot-line. It’s the, well, dirty jokes that doubtless will make this movie memorable.
For starters, there’s a chicken stuck in an unusual place, a woman’s breast stuck in an unusual place and toilet doings in unusual places.
Add to this free-for-all an albino psycho, an African-American dwarf limo driver and black triplets with genius IQs who curse to beat the band Richard Pryor-style.
But don’t get them wrong, the Farrelly brothers don’t push the envelope simply to see what they can get away with. “We just try to be as funny as possible. Audiences aren’t laughing because something is gross. Gross, almost by definition, is what you don’t laugh at,” says Bobby Farrelly, 41, younger than Peter by 18 months.
Bobby is speaking from a car phone somewhere in Massachusetts, where he lives. Peter is — who knows? Probably dreaming up another hit comedy.
The wild-and-crazy team claim the key to being funny is caring about a film’s characters. “If you don’t like the character, the outrageous things can become annoying things,” says Bobby.
In “Irene,” he says, “you really have to feel for Charlie because he gets his heart broken — you see that he’s a nice guy. Then [it’s OK for him to] go through the cow scene [suffice it to say, Bossy gets shot] because you know he’s a well-meaning guy. If the character is just a goofball, it has a completely different effect.”
The Farrellys co-wrote “Irene” a decade ago with boyhood friend Mike Cerrone.
As a sicko schizo, Carrey has a prime opportunity to let loose as two personalities fighting for control of one body — and for lovely Irene. “Jim was meant to play this role,” says Farrelly. “Comically, he’ll do anything. He’s fearless. We were very lucky to get him.”
Indeed, the Farrellys’ whole world changed when they first snagged Carrey for their debut film, 1994’s “Dumb & Dumber,” which became a $340 million blockbuster. The brothers had toiled for years rewriting other folks’ scripts but couldn’t hip a studio to one of their own.
Finally, they decided to produce and direct “Dumb & Dumber,” about two idiots and a lot of bathroom gags, themselves. “But no actor wanted to be in a movie called `Dumb & Dumber,”‘ says Farrelly. Except Carrey. “He said, `I really like this script. I want to do it.’ From that day forward, our lives changed.”
Then came “King Pin,” with Woody Harrelson, and the megahit “There’s Something About Mary,” 1998’s fourth-highest-grossing release. After the picture’s memorable “hair-gel” scene, probably the movie-stealer was Ben Stiller helplessly getting his member caught in his zipper. This was based on a true-life incident from the Farrellys’ adolescence.
The Farrellys were never class clowns and even now typically are on the subdued side. Peter, who started as a novelist, is the more outgoing of the two. Bobby says he’d love to direct him. “Lots of times he acts things out for the actors to show them what we mean. I go, `We should be shooting Pete!’ because he’s very funny!”
The team’s parents are regulars in their movies. Mom appears in an “Irene” scene in which Carrey flashes himself to a bunch of older women.
Is anything off-limits to the two Cumberland, R.I., natives? “Singling someone out — like Monica Lewinsky — wouldn’t be fair, because you’d have them look stupid,” says Farrelly. “So we never isolate anyone. We wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings.”
Speaking of which, on-set, Carrey was extremely reluctant to do a shockingly hilarious bit involving actress Shannon Whirry’s breast because, says Farrelly, “he had a mad crush on Renee and was embarrassed to do it with her around. That was the only thing he did in one take!
“Jim was smitten — really focused on winning Renee’s affections. And it was driving him crazy because she wouldn’t reciprocate. She said people can get set-drunk on a movie: fall in love temporarily. She didn’t want to be one of those 50-day romances. So she held out, and it was a smart move. As soon as filming was over, she and Jim became an item. They’re very hot for each other right now.”
The Farrellys and Cerrone originally wrote “Irene” on speculation 10 years ago, but no one would buy it. Then, after the brothers hit with “Dumb & Dumber,” they rewrote the script and sent it to Carrey, who immediately hopped on board.
The brothers had moved to Los Angeles to try to get Bobby’s invention, the world’s first round beach towel, off the ground (to no avail). When Peter began penning screenplays, Bobby soon segued from editor to writing partner. They were only just staying afloat, however, when they sold two scripts to the “Seinfeld” show. A year later the duo forged ahead with “Dumb & Dumber.”
Above all, their policy is always leave ’em wanting more. “Like, in `Irene’s’ chicken scene,” Farrelly explains. “If you show it a little too long, the joke leaves you with, ugh, an uneasy feeling. So, we tweak until we’ve got the joke at the right speed — keep it to where people are still laughing, then get out.”
Neither Farrelly is a movie buff. “We don’t even know what Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges movies are,” says Farrelly. They say they “based [their] style” on TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Next from the kings of crude: “Shallow Hal,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow; and they are producing “Say It Isn’t So,” with Heather Graham. Already the brothers are at work on an “Irene” spin-off, starring Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee and Jerod Mixon, who play the triplets. “They’re just too good,” says Farrelly. “We’re making the movie with or without Jim,” who, in “Irene,” is the African-American trio’s stepdad.
Though it may seem the Farrellys spend more time together than with their wives and kids, Farrelly says, “It’s not like we never get to a point where we’re totally sick of each other — it just takes a long time to make a movie the way we do. So afterward, we need a little vacation apart.”
