Me, Myself & Irene

Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Me, Myself & Irene follows mild-mannered cop Charlie Baileygates (Jim Carrey) as he suffers a psychotic break and subsequently transforms into the confident, aggressive Hank whenever he’s annoyed or threatened – with the narrative detailing the character’s efforts at protecting Renée Zellweger’s Irene from a gaggle of malevolent pursuers. It’s an agreeably broad premise that is, at the outset, employed to compelling and periodically hilarious effect by the Farrelly brothers, as the filmmakers, working from a script written with Mike Cerrone, deliver a briskly-paced comedy that benefits quite substantially from Carrey’s predictably (and entertainingly) larger-than-life turn as the unhinged central character – with Carrey’s rock-solid efforts heightened by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Robert Forster, Chris Cooper, and Richard Jenkins. There’s little doubt, then, that Me, Myself & Irene slowly-but-surely wears out its welcome as it progresses into an increasingly tiresome and padded-out midsection, as the picture, which sports an unreasonably (and unconscionably) overlong running time, has been suffused with a whole host of underwhelming elements that cumulatively drain the viewer’s interest and enthusiasm – which eventually does pave the way for a rather anticlimactic third act that does little to alleviate the insistently unsatisfying atmosphere. The movie’s failure is a shame, ultimately, given the massive potential afforded by Carrey’s go-for-broke performance and the seemingly foolproof setup, and it’s clear, in the end, that Me, Myself & Irene would’ve fared much, much better had it topped out at 90 minutes.

** out of ****