'There's Something About Mary' Turns 20 Today

Every week there seems to be a new anniversary that reminds us of the cruel passage of time and the inevitable death of our youth. Well, here's another to add to the growing pile of 'feel old yet memes - There's Something About Mary turns 20 today.

For many of us who saw the movie first time around, this is a particularly galling anniversary. It might have been one of the first films that kids in your class wanted to sneak into the cinema to see, since you weren't quite old enough for 12 certificates, let alone 15s, making it an entire generation's prime request whenever their older brothers made a trip to the video shop.

(See also in the list of things that make you feel old: video shops.)

The great American film critic Roger Ebert described the movie as 'flying in the face of manners, values, political correctness and decorum' and I'm happy to go along with him: it was lewd, shameless and never afraid to scrape along the bottom of the barrel, which is exactly why it was so beloved of adolescent boys.

This was a film that began with a guy getting his knob trapped in a zipper and went downhill from there, tastewise.

via GIPHY

Oh, and it had Cameron Diaz in it - an actress who was very, very high on the list of things that teenage boys liked in 1998.

The Farrelly Brothers, who made the film, were riding high on the success of Dumb & Dumber and Kingpin, but would never really reach those heights again. Their catalogue since includes Me, Myself & Irene, Shallow Hal, Stuck on You and The Ringer - all in similarly bad taste, but crucially were nowhere near as funny.

The stars of TSAM were well-known - Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon - but it was the secondary characters that elevated the film.

The likes of Jeffrey Tambor (later to become better known as George Senior off Arrested Development), Sarah Silverman, Chris Elliot and Lee Evans - yes, that Lee Evans - made the difference and ensured that the film was crass and gross but also hilarious.

Mostly though, it was the dead dog, the dick caught in the zipper, the fishing hook in the mouth, the 'hair gel', the countless shots of people spying through windows, the frank and beans... we could go on.

This Sunday night, maybe get yourself a pizza and a big bag of cans and toast to one of the most puerile films of our time. You deserve it.

Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

Topics: TV and Film, US Entertainment

Mike Wood

Mike Meehall Wood is a freelance journalist and translator. He writes for LADbible, VICE and countless sports publications, focusing on rugby league, football and boxing. He is a graduate of Leeds University and maintains a fizzy pop obsession. Contact Mike at [email protected]