Reel Critics

* EDITOR’S NOTE: The Reel Critics column features movie critiques

written by community members serving on our panel.

Carrey’s antics save ‘Me, Myself and Irene’

In “Me, Myself and Irene,” Jim Carrey plays a Rhode Island state

trooper named Charlie who has a split personality. He is otherwise

mild-mannered and nonconfrontational until somebody or something pushes

him a little too far. That’s when his maniacal alter ego, Hank, takes

over.

Charlie is assigned to a routine mission to return alleged fugitive

Irene back to Upstate New York, but they wind up on the run from corrupt

police officers. And their escape would be a lot simpler for everyone if

Hank didn’t keep stepping in at the most inopportune times. Also, after

Charlie loses his medication, both personalities fall in love with Irene.

I consider Bobby and Peter Farrelly’s movies to be a guilty pleasure,

the kind of thing you don’t want to admit enjoying. The brothers do have

a way, though, of amusing small minds like mine, and “Me, Myself, and

Irene” was no different.

While the politically correct commandos will no doubt be out in force

(Yeah, I know, multiple personality disorder is not schizophrenia--give

it a rest already, willya?), you can find plenty to enjoy in this movie

if you just relax and put your brain on pause for a couple hours.

Carrey’s contortions are amazing and almost painful to watch--and for

once he doesn’t spend most of the movie just mugging for the camera. His

routine when the two personalities are battling it out is great.

Carrey’s co-star Renee Zellweger is charming and attractive, in an

unconventional way, and the rest of the cast is effective.

However, the actors playing Charlie’s “sons” stole the show with their

obscenely hilarious Chris Rock/Stephen Hawking vibe. And I also loved the

sports-star cameos by Detroit winger Brendan Shanahan, former Boston

Bruin Cam Neely and tennis player Anna Kournikova.

Unfortunately, none of the characters are well-developed, and the

“Dukes of Hazzard”-esque narration is annoying. Part of the problem is

that the usually reliable Carrey spends half the movie playing a

character who simply isn’t funny--not because of anything so whiny as

insensitivity to mental illness, but because it’s nothing more than an

over-the-top imitation of “Dirty Harry.”

While this might have worked for about 10 minutes, it gets old very

fast at feature length. The other problem, curiously, is that the

directors famous for going too far seem to take their usual tactic in

hitting taboo targets, but they do so rather tamely. If they’d pushed

some of this stuff as far as “There’s Something About Mary” did with

handicap jokes, for instance, they might have pulled it off. But really,

albino jokes? How many people out there are sensitive about albino

references?

Neverthless, racial stereotypes, sexual innuendos and a well-placed

chicken all keep the loose yet wacky plot on course. The movie was a

hoot, but no stretch for Carrey, whose physical antics support the dull

script.

The bottom line is this: If you’re conservative, you won’t like this

movie. If you aren’t really uptight you should like it--or find parts of

it funny.

* MICHELLE HANCOCK, 27, lives in Newport Beach with her husband and

works for a Costa Mesa law firm.

Best to wait for video of ‘Trixie’

“Trixie” is about an aspiring gumshoe who can’t get her boss to take

her seriously. In frustration, she leaves the agency and finds employment

in a nearby casino. Her assignment is to put the arm on pickpockets.

Emily Watson, as the title character, has the wide-eyed look of Meg

Ryan combined with the fumbling and bumbling of a Columbo, all the while

chewing serious amounts of gum.

The humor in this movie is based on the malaprops that Trixie employs

unknowingly in her everyday language. For instance, she might say “a

stitch in time is a horse of a different color” or say she’s “ravishing”

when she means “famished.”

Other cast members contributing in worthwhile ways are Leslie Ann

Warren as an entertainer who has been misused by men; Nick Nolte, who

does a credible raunchy politician; and Nathan Lane, a shining light as a

caring misfit.

Unfortunately, the plot is feeble and disjointed.

Filming was done in Vancouver, so the scenery is beautiful. The humor

is there but not much else of substance. You might want to wait for the

video.

* ELAINE ENGLAND, 65, lives in Newport Beach and owns a gift-basket

business she operates out of her home.