Me, Myself And Irene

Hmm... A comedy about schizophrenia from the makers of Dumb & Dumber, Kingpin and There's Something About Mary? With Jim Carrey in the lead? I went out of my way to miss Me, Myself & Irene at the cinema, but this really isn't as awful as I expected.

Charlie is an upstanding citizen, a Rhode Island State Trooper and an all-round lovely guy. He's been avoiding confrontation since his wife left him to look after "their" (black, and thus quite obviously not Charlie's) triplet sons and as a result he is the ultimate walkover in his home town; that is until suddenly "Hank", his mischievous amoral alter ego, arrives on the scene.

Enter Irene (Renée Zellweger pre-Bridget Jones über fame) who needs escorting back to New York to face criminal charges fabricated by her sleazy ex, Dickie (Daniel Green), and his friend Lieutenant Gerke (Chris Cooper). What follows is a fight for Irene between Charlie and Hank as all three of them fend off the bad guys.

The Farrelly Brothers have crafted an amiable little small-town movie which largely avoids the temptations to capitalise on their gross-out reputation although there are some choice moments to disgust you. That said, unless you're easily shocked it's not a particularly demanding film by any stretch of the imagination.

The Brothers, Rhode Island lads, are rather too excited at getting all their mates in as extras and working with big Hollywood types. Refreshing as that is, it doesn't make for the sharpest directing standards.

Carrey's performance echoes elements of The Mask. His talents perfectly suited to the schizophrenia plot device (as medically inaccurate as it may be), although the Hank half of his character has a little too much freedom to go off the rails. Unfortunate, since Carrey, like Robin Williams, tends to be more watchable when more tightly controlled.

Zellweger does fine with what she has, which is no more than to get violent with Hank. Away from the main action, Charlie's high achieving kids (Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, Jerod Mixon) pull off the warmest and funniest performances of the film as they defend their father's reputation and attempt a rescue. Also noteworthy is Michael Bowman as Whitey an Albino acquaintance made on the road.

It is odd just how unfunny much of this "comedy" is. The film resembles quirky television more than great filmmaking, but it raises plenty of smiles and a few real titters. If enjoy being grossed-out then you'll probably be in heaven and thoroughly at ease with the whole film. But it's certainly not one for those who prefer rather more subtle comedy.