There's Something About Mary (+ Digital Copy)

Outrageous farce stars Ben Stiller as a depressed writer who pines for Cameron Diaz, the beauty he was supposed to take to the prom 13 years earlier. Stiller hires sleazy sleuth Matt Dillon to track her down, but when Dillon locates her in Florida, he gets the hots for her. The laughs come fast and furious from the Farrelly Brothers and a cast that includes Chris Elliott and Lee Evans. 119 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital Surround, Spanish Dolby Digital Surround; Subtitles: English, Spanish; audio commentary by the Farrelly Brothers; art gallery; bonus footage; deleted scenes; featurettes; interviews; theatrical trailers; TV spots; bonus digital copy for PC. Two-disc set.

There's Something About Mary is one of the funniest movies in years, recalling the days of the Zucker-Abraham-Zucker movies, in which (often tasteless) gags were piled on at a fierce rate. The difference is that cowriters and codirectors Bobby and Peter Farrelly have also crafted a credible story line and even tossed in some genuine emotional content. The Farrelly brothers' first two movies, Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin, had some moments of uproarious raunch, but were uneven. With Mary, they've created a consistently hilarious romantic comedy, made all the funnier by the fact that you know that they know that some of their gags go way over the line.

Cameron Diaz stars as Mary, every guy's ideal. Ben Stiller plays a high-school suitor still hung up on Mary years later; the obstacles standing between him and her include a number of psychotic suitors, a miserable little pooch, and, oh yeah, a murder charge. The Farrellys' admittedly simplistic camera work, which adapts easily to a TV screen, and the fact that you'll likely laugh yourself so silly over certain scenes you'll want to replay them to see what you were missing while you were busy convulsing, make this a perfect video movie. --David Kronke