Me, Myself & Irene

Me, Myself & Irene

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Farrelly
Bobby Farrelly
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Narrated by Rex Allen, Jr.
Music by
Cinematography Mark Irwin
Edited by Christopher Greenbury
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • June 23, 2000 (2000-06-23)
Running time
 116 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $51 million
Box office $149,270,999

Me, Myself & Irene is a 2000 American dark comedy film[1] directed by the Farrelly brothers, and starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins, Daniel Greene, Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon and Mongo Brownlee co-star. The film is about a Rhode Island state trooper named Charlie who, after years of continuously suppressing his rage and feelings, suffers a psychotic breakdown which results in a second personality, Hank. This was also Carrey's first role in a 20th Century Fox film.

Plot

Charlie Baileygates (Jim Carrey) is a veteran Rhode Island State Police trooper who has been taken advantage of by others, starting with his former wife Layla (Traylor Howard). Despite his friends warning him of Layla's infidelity, Charlie refused to accept she was in an affair, even after she gave birth to three bi-racial triplet boys and ran off with her lover. In the present, Charlie has raised the sons, Jamal, Lee Harvey, and Shonte Jr (Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon, Mongo Brownlee), as his own and they respect him as his father, but Charlie's kind personality continually is misused by others. As a result of years of such treatment, Charlie develops a split personality named Hank, who is rude and violent to friends and strangers alike. A psychiatrist prescribes medication to keep Charlie's Hank personality at bay.

Believing that Charlie needs a vacation, his commanding officer (Robert Forster) orders him to escort Irene Waters (Renée Zellweger) from Rhode Island to Massena, New York, because she reportedly committed a hit-and-run. Irene insists the hit-and-run accusation was created by Dickie (Daniel Greene), her mob-connected ex-boyfriend, and by corrupt police officers in his employ, as to assure she does not speak of Dickie's illegal activities to the proper authorities. In Massena, Charlie prepares to turn over Irene to two United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agents, when a hitman with a contract on Irene's life attempts to assassinate her, instead killing one of the EPA agents. Charlie helps Irene to safety and they flee the area, but Charlie accidentally leaves his medication behind, allowing the Hank personality to appear randomly. The FBI suspects that Charlie is responsible for the murder of the EPA agent. FBI agents begin pursuing him and Irene, as do crooked police officers in Dickie's pay, Boshane (Richard Jenkins) and Gerke (Chris Cooper). The chase becomes a media spectacle, alerting Charlie's sons to his predicament.

Charlie and Irene decide to return to Rhode Island, developing a bond along the way. Though Irene is taken by Charlie's personality, the random appearance of Hank worries her, despite the aggressive personality keeping them out of trouble. Along the way they pick up Casper aka "Whitey" (Michael Bowman), an albino waiter from a restaurant who claims he killed his entire family in the past. While stopping at a motel, Charlie finds he might be able to suppress Hank and goes to have a conversation with Irene about it, leading to them to sleep together. However, the next morning, Hank reveals that it was he that slept with Irene. In the confusion, they are almost ambushed by Boshane and Gerke, but Charlie's sons create a distraction, stealing a police helicopter and allowing Charlie, Irene, and Casper to escape.

They board a train back to Rhode Island. Dickie boards the same train, unable to rely on his henchmen to stop Charlie and Irene. He kidnaps her, and Charlie gives chase, managing to convince Hank to work together to save her. As Charlie/Hank tries to wrestle her back and disarm Dickie from an open train car, Dickie shoots off his thumb. The distraction gives Casper the chance to stab Dickie in the back with a lawn dart, killing him. Charlie and Irene fall from the train into a river below, where Charlie's sons arrive to help rescue them. Regrouping with Casper, Charlie apologizes for making him kill again, but Casper reveals he made up his backstory to appear cool. The police arrive but quickly learn of Irene's plight and the corrupt cops working for Dickie. Gerke is arrested, Charlie's resourcefulness congratulated for bringing him to justice, and Irene is cleared of the charges against her.

Irene prepares to leave Rhode Island when she is pulled over by the police, but this proves only to be a diversion to allow Charlie, back on his medication, to propose marriage to her, which she happily accepts.

Cast

Music

The film's original score was written by Pete Yorn, while the movie's soundtrack contains several covers of Steely Dan songs performed by other bands. Examples are Smash Mouth's cover of "Do It Again", Ben Folds Five's cover of "Barrytown", and Marvelous 3's cover of "Reelin' in the Years". Other songs include "Breakout" by Foo Fighters, "Totalimmortal", originally by AFI but covered by The Offspring, "The World Ain't Slowin' Down" by Ellis Paul, and "Strange Condition" by Pete Yorn.

  1. "Breakout" – Foo Fighters
  2. "Do It Again"+ – Smash Mouth
  3. "Deep Inside of You" – Third Eye Blind
  4. "Totalimmortal" – The Offspring
  5. "The World Ain't Slowin' Down" – Ellis Paul
  6. "Any Major Dude Will Tell You"+ – Wilco
  7. "Only A Fool Would Say That"+ – Ivy
  8. "Can't Find The Time To Tell You" – Hootie & The Blowfish
  9. "Bodhisattva"+ – Brian Setzer Orchestra
  10. "Bad Sneakers"+ – The Push Stars
  11. "Reelin' In The Years"+ – Marvelous 3
  12. "Strange Condition" – Pete Yorn
  13. "Barrytown"+ – Ben Folds Five
  14. "Razor Boy"+ – Billy Goodrum
  15. "Where He Can Hide" – Tom Wolfe

+Steely Dan cover

"Motherfucker" by The Dwarves, "Fire Like This" by Hardknox, "Don't Say You Don't Remember" by Beverly Bremers, "The Perpetrator" by Hipster Daddy-O and the Handgrenades, and "Hem of Your Garment" by Cake were included in the movie but not on the soundtrack. Pete Yorn's, Just Another can also be heard it the background, during the scene where they discuss Hank's Idea. Alta Mira's "El Capitan" can be heard in the background, during the scene where Hank fights himself at the train station. Other songs, that appeared in the film are not included on the soundtrack album.

Reception

Box office

The film had the biggest opening on the weekend of June 23, 2000 making US$24.2 million in its opening weekend. The film earned $90,570,999 in the United States, and a further $58,700,000 internationally for a worldwide total of $149,270,999.

Critical response

Review website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 48%, based on 97 reviews, and an average rating of 5.4/10, with the consensus that "While Jim Carrey's comedic skills earn some laughs, Me, Myself and Irene sports a tired, unsatisfying plot."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Michael Blanding & Alexandra Hall. Moon Handbooks Vermont. Moon Publications.
  2. ↑ "Me, Myself & Irene". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2014-10-22.

External links

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