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Personal Filmmaking
I really wanted to like this movie simply because I admire
the concept. Bobby and Peter Farrelly have been teased about
"sharing the same mind" ever since they came to
Hollywood on a lark, much like their conjoined creations in
this movie. One of many brother combos in Hollywood (the Coens,
the Wachowskis), the theory is that brothers can bounce ideas
off each other and get honest feedback--they think as they
go, finishing each other's sentences, as if a single mind
is conversing with itself. The problem, I would guess, is
that one's individual identity is harder to come by--even
if the brothers have distinct personalities. So here's shock
artists Bobby and Peter Farrelly, describing this feeling
through the metaphor of conjoined twins.
To begin, I don't think the movie is insensitive to conjoined
twins. However, I don't know any to ask, but the Farrelly's
don't seem as hypocritical or exploitative as they do in Shallow
Hal--we are asked to laugh at some of the twins antics,
but not with the mean-spiritedness of Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow
in a fat suit) breaking chairs. In fact, this movie isn't
the usual parade of mental and physical disability that we're
used to from the Farrellys--though they do trot out a few,
don't worry. Instead, this movie wisely focuses on the relationship
between Walt (Greg Kinnear) and Bob (Matt Damon). The first
two acts of the movie are touching and sweet, in that elusive
There's Something About Mary way--in fact, Kinnear
and Damon invest a lot of feeling into the relationship. Yeah,
there's the unbelievable antics like the hockey goaltending
and accommodation of sex, but in the quiet moments when the
brothers discuss their lives and ambitions, the movie is surprisingly
touching--mostly because you've got two decent actors working
with some decent material.
The problem is that the movie completely falls apart in the
third act. The Farrelly Brothers Conjoined Twins movie has
no business being much past 1:30, and especially not its two
hour runtime. They milk it, and all the goodwill cannot be
sustained. Too many jokes undermine the relative believability
of the relationship, and the Farrelly's writing can only hold
out for so long. They try to prop up the resolution with Cher,
but that is as bad of an idea as it sounds. Had the movie
been tighter and more concerned with honoring the abilities
of its lead actors, it might have become a bizarre nugget
of genius--like Mary or Kingpin. But Farrellys
once again overestimate our appetite for their brand of sentimentality.
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