Review
(CNN) -- With the release of "Me, Myself & Irene, " Jim Carrey is back from the land of Oscar wannabes.
After starring in two back-to-back films that were supposedly Academy Award-worthy vehicles -- "The Truman Show" (1998) and "Man On The Moon" (1999) -- the funny man is back in cahoots with the irreverent Farrelly brothers (Bobby and Peter), who helped unleash Carrey on an unsuspecting world in 1994 with the film "Dumb & Dumber." That was the same watershed year the rubber-faced actor made "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "The Mask," thereby instantly becoming a bankable star and an automatic member of the $20 million-per-picture club.
Now he's back in his lowbrow comedy sandbox with the Farrellys in "Me, Myself & Irene," costarring his current lady love Renee Zellweger. This $50 million project is actually the resurrection of an unsold 10-year-old spec script the brothers co-wrote with their childhood friend, Mike Cerrone.
They've now overhauled the entire thing and dusted it off for Carrey.
The results? Truly inspired hilarious moments interspersed among tired toilet jokes and the overall feeling that the Farrellys are trying way too hard to top previous efforts -- most notably "There's Something About Mary." There are only so many times you can up the ante before you overplay your hand.
The broad comedic premise involving a split personality is perfect for Carrey, who plays Rhode Island state trooper Charlie Baileygates. After he marries his childhood sweetheart (Traylor Howard), she promptly falls in love with a black midget (Tony Cox -- a blatant knockoff of Mini-me), gives birth to male triplets and runs off with the vertically challenged lothario. Charlie is left holding the bag -- and the kids: Jamaal (Anthony Anderson), Lee Harvey (Mongo Brownlee) and Shonte Jr. (Jerod Mixon).
These three jumbo-sized, jive-talking homeboys are as sweet as they are vulgar-mouthed. The scenes involving them when they're all grown up and studying for their entrance exams into Ivy League schools are hilarious.
Charlie is your typical dork. A big pushover. On a routine assignment, he meets Irene, played by Zellweger. She's been accused of fraud and embezzlement by her crooked ex-boyfriend. Mild-mannered Charlie thinks she's innocent and gets a crush on her. What can he do?
Enter Hank, Charlie's "other half," who's been keeping score. It's time for payback. Yep, it seems Charlie has a case of "advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage." In other words -- he's nuts.
Now Carrey is in his element, leaping from one personality to the other with his patented quicksilver, plastic face contortions. The story now becomes a wild road trip with Charlie, Hank and Irene on the run while trying to prove Irene's innocence.
Everything shifts into manic high gear with an avalanche of vaginal/penile and rectal jokes. All are best seen and not described. Inevitably, Charlie and Hank have a showdown over who will win the hand of the lovely Irene. This, of course, results in a tour-de-force of physical mugging by Carrey.
Juvenile, stupid and aiming for the lowest common comedic denominator, "Me, Myself & Irene" is whatever you think it is. At times, it works to tasteless perfection. At other times, it tries way too hard. In either case, this film should fill Hollywood's quota for gross-out humor for the entire summer -- and then some.
"Me, Myself & Irene" opens nationwide Friday, and is rated "R" with a running time of 117 minutes.
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RELATED SITES: Twentieth Century Fox
Me, Myself and Irene
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