Peter John Farrelly (born December 17, 1956) and Robert Leo "Bobby" Farrelly, Jr. (born June 17, 1958), professionally known as the Farrelly Brothers are screenwriters and directors of ten comedy films, including There's Something About Mary; Dumb and Dumber; Kingpin; Hall Pass; Me, Myself & Irene; Shallow Hal; Stuck on You; Osmosis Jones; Fever Pitch (also known as The Perfect Catch outside of America) and the 2007 remake of The Heartbreak Kid.[1]
The Farrelly brothers are from Cumberland, Rhode Island, and many of their movies partially take place in that state, or elsewhere in New England. Sports play a large part in their films and they have cast many popular sports stars for cameo appearances. The Farrelly brothers frequently cast Rob Moran, Steve Tyler and sports figures (e.g. Cam Neely; Roger Clemens; Brett Favre) in their films.
They have been both praised and criticized for their humorous use of disability. They frequently depict able-bodied people as stupid (Dumb and Dumber) while they show disabled people as being aspirational (Shallow Hal, Stuck on You) or gifted (Me, Myself & Irene).
They use slapstick and toilet humor, often with a soundtrack of upbeat, light rock songs. Their films often contain flashback scenes that show how a character was affected by a traumatic event.
The female interests in three of their movies are named Mary: Dumb and Dumber; There's Something about Mary; Shallow Hal (RoseMary). Their mother's name is Mariann. Peter Farrelly has published books including Outside Providence and The Comedy Writer. The quote, "The heart wants what the heart wants" is repeated both in Me, Myself and Irene and The Heartbreak Kid.
The Farrelly Brothers founded a production company called Conundrum Entertainment and were producing the comedy series Unhitched on FOX before it was cancelled.
The Farrelly Brothers are currently filming The Three Stooges as the film's directors and producers. The film will star Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe Howard, Sean Hayes as Larry Fine, and Will Sasso as Curly Howard.
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The brothers both directed and wrote/co-wrote the screenplay for all their films, except where otherwise noted:
The Farrelly brothers were featured in The Dialogue interview series. In this 90 minute interview with producer Mike DeLuca, the Farrellys explain how their writing methods, of painting themselves into a corner and not wanting to know where a screenplay is going, can seem as unconventional as their comedy.
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