Ted (Ben Stiller) plays a nerdy guy, with terrible luck, who has spent the last 13 years obsessing over Mary (Cameron Diaz), the high school dream girl who got away. Ted hears she is living in Miami and hires a scumbag detective (Matt Dillion) to track her down. From there all sorts of wacky hijinks ensue- involving Puffy the dog on speed, a psychopathic murderer and Mary trying on Ted’s organic “hair gel”.
Slapstick comedy has long been a part of Hollywood cinema. But this film takes it to a new level with its hilariously disgusting gags and over the top silliness. It’s a sort of “stupid” movie for smart people. The plot is outrageous and all the characters, besides Ted and Mary, are idiots. This is, of course, very much intentional on the part of the Farrelly brothers. I suppose the point might be that these two good hearted souls still manage to find each other despite all the liars, phonies and bad fortune. But the social satire still takes a back seat to the comedy as this movie ranks very high on the “laughs per minute” meter. An extremely funny film that is among the best of it’s type.
Cast
- Cameron Diaz as Mary Jensen/Matthews, an orthopedic surgeon whom Ted has been in love with since high school.
- Ben Stiller as Ted Stroehmann, an awkward and shy young man who loves – and possibly is obsessed with Mary.
- Matt Dillon as Pat Healy, a sleazy private detective whom Ted hires to track Mary down, only to fall in love with her himself.
- Chris Elliott as Dom “Woogie” Woganowski, Ted’s best friend and has a fetish for Mary’s shoes.
- Lee Evans as Tucker / Norman Phipps, a Pompano teen who falls in love with Mary after delivering a pizza and pretends to be a British architect in order to woo her.
- Lin Shaye as Magda
- Jeffrey Tambor as Sully
- Markie Post as Sheila Jensen, Mary’s mother.
- Keith David as Charlie Jensen, Mary’s step-father.
- W. Earl Brown as Warren Jensen, Mary’s mentally disabled brother.
- Sarah Silverman as Brenda, Mary’s crude best friend.
- Khandi Alexander as Joanie
- Willie Garson as Dr. Zit Face / High School Pal Bob
- Harland Williams (uncredited) as Hitchhiker
- Brett Favre as Himself, Mary’s former love interest.