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In the Farrelly Brothers' ME, MYSELF & IRENE, Jim Carrey plays Charlie Baileygates, a Rhode Island State Trooper who develops a split personality disorder after his wife leaves him for an African-American midget genius. Due to years of denial and repression while raising triplet sons left behind by his wife and her lover, Charlie finally gets fed up with people taking advantage of his meek nature and snaps, taking on a lewd, aggressive second personality named Hank. Soon afterwards, Charlie is assigned by the police department to protect a woman named Irene (Renee Zellweger), who's being followed by some shady characters that want her dead. As the pair attempt to outwit their pursuers, the kind-hearted Charlie begins to fall for Irene, while battling his sleazy alter ego, Hank. |
Radio Times
After flexing his dramatic muscles with The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, Jim Carrey is reunited with gross-out directorial brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly, with whom he worked on Dumb and Dumber. As Charlie, a Rhode Island state trooper, he's a sweet-hearted loser who falls in love with Irene (Renée Zellweger), even though he's lumbered with three delightful grown-up black sons from his wife's adulterous liaison. Unfortunately, his vicious alter-ego Hank has also fallen for her — and schizophrenia has never been so comically painful as when Jekyll wrestles with Hyde for Irene's affections. As usual, the jokes are well below the limbo-line of taste — a chicken stuffed up the backside provokes gasps instead of giggles — but the movie delivers its vulgarity with almost surreal panache. Sadly though, the versatile Carrey looks to be trapped on the humour treadmill.