If you saw There's Something About Mary when it first came out
was it funny then? I finally saw it for the first time over the weekend and found it utterly underwhelming. Admittedly, the likely funniest scenes are ingrained in pop culture such that you know about them even if you hadn't seen the movie, and thus the surprise value was gone (e.g. the zipper stuck scene, the hair gel scene, and Brett turning out to be Favre).
Have humor standards just changed over time to where the old standbys of complicated schemes and lies to get the girl in a romantic comedy just aren't as funny as they used to be? Am I an old fart that is losing his sense of humor? Was the movie not really that funny in the first place? Or is it just classic Ben Stiller humor and I've never really found him to be that funny?
15 Replies
2mo
a sucker for really, really dumb comedies. I've seen Dumb and Dumber more times than I can count. It's not a Ben Stiller thing b/c I loved Dodgeball, which is also very dumb. The tone/vibe of There's Something About Mary just always felt off to me.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
and not the protagonist. While he did help produce the movie, he wasn't a writer or director. I'm not sure it's fair to call that a Ben Stiller movie, it was just a movie with Ben Stiller in it.
(In response to this post by AbsolutVT03)
2mo
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
It'd been pretty hyped up, but I was underwhelming even then. A couple of funny schemes, but that's about it.
The whole concept of the "complicated schemes and lies" to get the girl is incredibly outdated now.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
I recall being scared during the movie when it first arrived. Upon a 2nd viewing it has to be the worst movie ever made.
Even Hitchcock's, The Birds, failed the eye test in the 21st Century.
** Edited by Coattail Hokie at 5/6/2026, 2:05:31 PM
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
it was hilarious. I mean, how do you not laugh at, "How'd you get the beans over the frank?" line?
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
The bathroom and hitchhiker scenes make me laugh so hard I can’t catch my breath.
I like politically incorrect comedies. Animal House, Caddyshack and Superbad are some other favorites of mine.
Different strokes for different folks.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
I loved every Mike Meyers movie, but now only So I Married an Axe Murderer has stood the test of time for me. Everything else is just cringe after cringe.
Just to be clear, So I Married an Axe Murderer is a masterpiece.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
humor was also 'cringe' humor where it wasn't so much lol funny, but more 'that's uncomfortable' funny.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2mo
with the exaggerated comedy of him trying to pick up keys he dropped definitely crosses into the realm of not funny by today's standards.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
E
EDGEMAN
2mo
Definitely NOT funny now (if you think about it...)
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
2mo
daughter. She laughed some, but the hair gel scene was an "Ohmigod!!! Really!!!" moment for her.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)