The Alamo
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Jeepers Creepers 2
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Return of the King
Spider-Man 2
Star Wars III
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S.W.A.T.
Thunderbirds
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Tomb Raider 2
Underworld
Van Helsing

There's Something More About Mary
Director: The Farrelly Bros

Can't you just imagine how jealous the Farrelly Brothers must be that they didn't come up with the whole transgender/dominatrix thing? Well, perhaps to assuage their bruised egos, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has released a new two-platter Widescreen Collector's Edition of one of their most popular hits, giving it a slight title variation, There's Something More about Mary (2006305, $27). Ben Stiller stars as a writer pining after his high school dream girl, played by Cameron Diaz. He hires a private detective, played by Matt Dillon, to locate her, but the detective also falls for her, and it turns out several other characters are stalking her as well. The witty romance is enhanced by the Farrelly's outrageous physical comedy gags and off-color situations, shocking viewers all the way to the cash register.

Fox released a standard DVD version of the 1998 feature, There's Something about Mary, in 1999. The picture and sound on the new release appear to be identical to the older version. The letterboxing has an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. Colors are bright and crisp. Although there is a satisfying, Cat Ballou-style musical score, the 5.1-channel Dolby Digital sound mix really isn't all that interesting, but it is adequately delivered. There are alternate French and Spanish audio tracks in standard stereo and optional English and Spanish subtitles ("¿Es gel?").

The film is presented on the first platter. The original 119-minute version is included, but a second option allows one to play a new 129-minute version, which contains several scenes of lesser comedy, with material that didn't advance the story sufficiently and gags that didn't quite make the final cut the first time through, although some of the material, such as a series of incidents showing a character slipping into addiction after Dillon's character forces a single sip of beer down him, while not directly related to the primary narrative, is fairly amusing.

The Farrellys, Peter and Bobby, recorded a commentary track for the earlier DVD. It wasn't a great track, though. They talked a bit about making the film, but they spent a lot of time pointing out all the friends they had included in each scene. They do talk about testing the 'reveal' in the zipper scene in several different places, before finding the moment that generated the most hysteria. They also readily admit that they are lousy filmmakers from a technical standpoint, concentrating more on the performances and the plot, and trusting their cinematographer and other technicians to get the other stuff right. They used Stiller's high school photo, incidentally, as the model for his hairstyle in the opening scenes. That original commentary accompanies both versions of the film, and for the longer version, they have added comments for the new scenes. Addressing the limitations of their previous talk, however, there is also a selectable option that brings up, somewhat randomly, a prompt. When the prompt is activated, a different section of scenes from the movie appears accompanied by more commentary, generally unrelated to those scenes, in which the Farrellys speak with more substance about making the film, discussing the casting process, how they team-direct and other such matters. The total amount of talk is about 20-30 minutes and it makes no sense to have it presented in the manner that it is presented, but it is still a worthwhile improvement. Also featured on the first platter is an alternate opening title sequence that contains some very witty clay animation, which, ultimately, was not as effective and the simpler, more direct version that was eventually utilized. This segment is also accompanied by an alternate commentary from the directors.

On the standard version only, there is a new, second commentary track featuring the two screenwriters, Ed Decter and John J. Strauss, who have been working together for so long they talk as if they were brothers, too. They spend a lot of the time trying to explain why the Farrellys are such geniuses, but you can't really explain comedy and so that aspect of the talk really doesn't amount to much. They do identify which parts of the script came from them and which were added later, talk about their careers and have a few other things to say about the production, so it isn't a waste of time, and they are fairly witty, which makes sense, since they came up with the movie in the first place.

The second platter has a fascinating 43-minute collection of behind-the-scenes footage showing the directors at work with the actors. What is interesting is that they appear to have no idea what they are doing, which, of course, isn't true, but while the whole crew stands around, they're telling Stiller or Diaz to try something one way and then another, adjusting and readjusting the timing, the body movements and everything else about each performance. It is a process very unlike the normally planned-to-the-minutest-detail method of modern moviemaking, and it's amazing not only that it works for them, but that they tend to come in on or under schedule.

Also featured on the second platter is a decent, gossipy 21-minute AMC Backstory profile of the film; a more promotional 22-minute Comedy Central Reel Comedy piece on the movie; 3 minutes of bloopers; a 3-minute clip from the MTV Movie Awards in which Stiller wins for 'Best Fight' with the dog, "I wish Puffy could be here…," including a very funny lampoon featurette about how the fight was staged; 14 minutes of interviews with the cast, Diaz' segments being particularly transfixing; a mildly jokey 12-minute piece about the film's balladeers, Jonathon Richman and Tommy Larkins; a 6-minute piece on performer W. Earl Brown, who plays Diaz' brother, and the individual, a childhood friend of the Farrellys, upon whom the mentally challenged character was based; a very nice 6-minute piece on cameo performer Brett Favre; an uninteresting 7-minute interview monolog with comedian and cameo performer Harland Williams; a well made 11-minute piece with makeup effects man Tony Gardner and performer Lin Shaye; a jokey 4-minute segment on the zipper gag including an interview with a real urologist; a 6-minute clip from the film with eight language options including Russian and Turkish; a pleasing karaoke rendition of Build Me Up Buttercup; a Dandy Warhols music video with some brief claymation segments; a trailer; thirteen TV commercials; and several posters.

Black Hawk Down
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Once Upon A Time In America
Gangs Of New York
Treasure Planet
Giant
Windtalkers
Die Another Day
War & Peace
Eraserhead 
Hearts & Minds 

- by Douglas Pratt

 

Douglas Pratt's DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter is published monthly.
For a free sample, call (516)594-9304 or go to his website at www.DVDLaser.com