There's Something About Nothing That's Not The Same As Everything Else

I don't like Ben Stiller. I don't really know what it is that makes me dislike him as an actor, although there are some movies of his that I can stand to watch. One's where his performance isn't as cringeworthy as others, where his character isn't based on a stereotypical understanding of a certain American cliche character, like the geek or the jock or some messed up Spanish guy. Movies of his like Night at the Museum. I liked that movie. It had a nice storyline behind it and was just a cute little family movie with dinosaurs. What's not to love?

So I can stand Stiller. I just draw the line at seeing him in There's Something About Mary.

It's an old release (1998) so the humour to nowadays is quite different, which I thought would be a fun change to experience. Something different. And the movie started off with a lot of potential. Cameron Diaz was her usual 'golden gal' self, cute and innocent, loved by all but immune to the charms of so many. Ben Stiller was bearable, his character not being too off-putting but not too "fall in love instantly with". And the story line was okay, if a little bit of a cliche in itself. But then about halfway through, when I suppose the real story started, it just changed. Not for the best.

I found everything uber predictable. I could tell really easily what was going to happen, when it was going to happen, who was going to be involved. And it just kind of became an uncomfortable movie to watch after that because the "big laughs" weren't that big if you knew they were coming. All of the character's were cliche and stereotypical and I would have found this slightly amusing had there not been so many of them. If maybe one or two characters had been written based on stereotypes that would have been bearable but not all them!!

And the ending! Just so unrealistic and predictable. Seriously, I'm looking at it now, looking back at why I chose to watch that and I'm realising that none of my expectations were met. I expected a release from the everyday comedies that are in existence. Missed the mark. Whilst I expected Ben Stiller's character to be the same as all the others that he has played, I didn't think that feeling would dominate my movie experience. Missed the mark.

I guess that I just expected too much. I watched that and I didn't need to feel anything or think at all. I basically veged out, almost fell asleep and then was so comfortable where I was sitting that i didn't move for a good 20 minutes, even after the DVD machine had turned its self off. I mean, I guess I would watch it again if I needed noise in the background, but it was just so blah that it wouldn't even work as a distraction.

So, it really was nothing special.



Image available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_Something_About_Mary