57 - "There's Something About Mary" (1998)

      There's just something about Mary. I can distinctly remember watching this movie when it was released in 98. I had seen the previews numerous times on tv with the dog biting Ben Stiller's crotch and I thought that was something that needed to be seen. With so many films, what you see in the previews are the only thing worth watching and I kind of feared that would be the case with this movie. But my fears ended up being unwarranted. I don't think I have ever laughed as hard as when I saw this movie for the first time. I literally had moments when I couldn't breathe due to my laughing so much. Ben Stiller is Ted, a high school geek, who ends up getting a date to the prom with Mary, the prettiest girl in school. Mary is played by Cameron Diaz in what I think is by far her best work on the big screen. The date goes horribly wrong before it even really starts due to a "zipper" accident which provides us one of the funniest scenes in the film (We got a bleeder!!!). Years later, Ted has moved on with life but he still thinks about Mary. He hires a private detective, played by Matt Dillon, to track down Mary. Upon finding her, Dillon falls in love with Mary also and this leads to both guys pursuing Mary along with a few other assorted characters. There's Something About Mary is directed by the Farrelly Brothers, who also gave us the great Kingpin and Dumb and Dumber. Their brand of humor is not for everyone and this is definitely not a movie for the kiddos to watch by any means. But if you want some mindless entertainment, and get some great laughs along the way, you can't do much better than this.