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Peter Farrelly debuted with the silly farce Dumb and Dumber (1994) and then joined his brother
Bobby to form a couple of directors and screenwriters.
If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
There's Something About Mary (1998) is a juvenile farce with vulgar overtones.
(Temporarly translated with DeepL)
Ted is a depressed and alienated young man who tells the psychoanalyst how thirteen years ago he was chosen by surprise by Mary, with whom he was in love, as a "date" to the "prom", but ruined the evening with a series of blunders (after a fight with Mary's idiot brother, who does not tolerate being touched in the ears, he took his penis in the zipper and had to be hospitalized).
A friend convinces him to hire a private detective, Pat, to track down Mary. Pat finds her in Florida, still single and more attractive than ever. She works as a volunteer in a center for the handicapped and keeps company with her bizarre neighbor who has a passion for bugging other people's cell phones. The investigator in turn places a microphone on Mary so that he can listen to all her conversations. He then learns who Mary's ideal man would be. He goes back to Ted and tells him a fake story: Mary is ugly and unbearable. But then he resigns and moves to Florida. There he woos Mary by introducing himself as the man of her dreams. Ted is more and more depressed, until he learns by chance that Mary is still the same beautiful girl she used to be, and of course he goes after Pat. Pat, meanwhile, almost sets Mary's neighbor's dog on fire in an attempt to ingratiate himself with her, and continues to invent one story after another: architect, house in Nepal, dedicated to the cause of the mentally retarded... Ted is driving to Florida but is arrested in a police raid, mistaken first for a homosexual prostitute and then for a serial killer.
Mary has a close friend, Tucker, an invalid who walks on crutches, who warns her about Pat after checking that his credentials are all fake. But Pat hears everything and can take appropriate countermeasures. Ted, meanwhile, released, resumes his journey, accompanied this time by his friend. The latter discovered that Pat had fallen in love with Mary. In the meantime, Pat made it up to Mary and she fell into his arms. Ted and his friend arrive. Ted comes forward but doesn't have the courage to tell her the whole truth and just courts her in turn. Pat learns of Ted's presence through the hidden microphone. Tucker, meanwhile, discovers that Pat is a dangerous murderer and convinces Mary to stop seeing him.
But Pat follows him and unmasks him in turn: Tucker is just a guy who delivers pizzas and who, having fallen in love with Mary, has decided to impersonate an invalid aristocrat.
Meanwhile, Ted is convinced by his friend to masturbate before the "date" with Mary. The sperm hangs from his ear and Mary, unaware, uses it to fix her hair. At dinner Mary tells him about her life surrounded by "stalkers", but maniacs who persecute her, starting with the Woogie for which she had to change her last name. Ted realizes that he is simply one of them. Pat and Tucker spy on them and cause some catastrophe for Ted, but they can't stop the two from continuing to see each other. Until someone writes an anonymous letter to Mary and reveals that Pat is the investigator Ted hired to spy on her. Mary, of course, is shocked to learn that Ted lied to her like everyone else and throws him out. Ted thinks it was Pat who exposed him, but Pat swears their innocence. And it wasn`t Tucker, who moreover confirms that he has caused all of Mary`s previous relationships to fail with bogus revelations. It was Ted's friend, who turns out to be the psychotic Woogie. Tucker and Pat save Mary from Woogie's attack, but Tucker reveals that he is not the invalid that Mary thought was her best friend. All four of them find themselves in front of Mary. Ted also calls Brett, Mary's old boyfriend discredited by Tucker's lie, and "delivers" him to her. He swears to Mary that he is cured, that he no longer needs her, and leaves. But as soon as he is outside he bursts into tears. But Mary goes after him.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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Peter & Bobby Farrelly...
There's Something About Mary (1998) e` una farsa adolescenziale dai
toni spesso volgari.
Ted e` un giovane depresso e alienato che racconta allo psicanalista come
tredici anni prima venne scelto a sorpresa da Mary, di cui era invaghito,
come "date" alla "prom", ma rovino` la serata con una serie di madornali
castronerie (dopo una colluttazione con il fratello scemo di Mary, che non
tollera di essere toccato nelle orecchie, si prese il pene nella cerniera
e dovette essere ricoverato in ospedale).
Un amico lo convince ad assumere un detective privato, Pat, per rintracciare
Mary. Pat la ritrova in Florida, ancora single e piu` avvenente che mai.
Lavora come volontaria in un centro per handicappati e fa compagnia alla
bizzarra vicina che ha la passione di intercettare le i telefoni cellulari
degli altri. L'investigatore a sua volta piazza un microfono su Mary in
maniera da poter ascoltare tutte le sue conversazioni. Apprende cosi` quale
sarebbe l'uomo ideale di Mary. Torna da Ted e gli racconta una storia fasulla:
Mary e` bruttissima e insopportabile. Ma poi si dimette e si trasferisce in
Florida. Li` corteggia Mary presentandosi come l'uomo dei suoi sogni.
Ted e` sempre piu` depresso, finche' apprende per caso che Mary e` ancora
la stessa ragazza splendida di un tempo, e naturalmente si mette sulle tracce
di Pat. Pat intanto quasi da` fuoco al cane della vicina di Mary nel tentativo
di ingraziarselo e continua a inventare una storia dopo l'altra:
architetto, casa in Nepal, dedito alla causa dei ritardati mentali...
Ted sta guidando verso la Florida ma viene arrestato in una retata della
polizia, scambiato prima per un prostituto omosessuale e poi per un serial
killer.
Mary ha un caro amico, Tucker, un invalido che cammina con le stampelle, che la mette
in guardia da Pat dopo aver controllato che le sue credenziali sono tutte
false. Ma Pat ascolta tutto e puo` prendere le contromisure del
caso. Ted, intanto, rilasciato, riprende il viaggio, accompagnato questa volta
dall'amico. Questi ha scoperto che Pat si e` innamorato di Mary.
Pat intanto si e` fatto perdonare da Mary e lei gli e` cascata fra le braccia.
Ted e l'amico arrivano. Ted si fa avanti ma non ha il coraggio di raccontarle
tutta la verita` e si limita a corteggiarla a sua volta. Pat apprende della
presenza di Ted tramite il microfono nascosto.
Tucker intanto ha scoperto che Pat e` un pericoloso omicida e convince Mary
a smettere di vederlo.
Ma Pat lo segue e lo smaschera a sua volta: Tucker e` soltanto un ragazzo
che consegna pizze e che, invaghitosi di Mary, ha deciso di impersonare
un aristocratico invalido.
Intanto Ted viene convinto dall'amico a masturbarsi prima della "date" con
Mary. Lo sperma gli rimane appeso all'orecchia e Mary, ignara, lo usa per
aggiustarsi la capigliatura. A cena Mary gli parla della sua vita circondata
da "stalkers", ma maniaci che la perseguitano, a partire dal Woogie per il
quale lei dovette cambiare cognome. Ted si rende conto di essere semplicemente
uno di loro. Pat e Tucker li spiano e causano qualche catastrofe a Ted, ma
non riescono a impedire che i due continuino a vedersi. Finche' qualcuno non
scrive una lettera anonima a Mary e rivela che Pat e` l'investigatore assunto
da Ted per spiarla. Mary, naturalmente, e` sconvolta nell'apprendere che anche
Ted le ha mentito come tutti gli altri e lo mette alla porta. Ted pensa che
sia stato Pat a smascherarlo, ma Pat giura la loro innocenza. E non e` stato
Tucker, che peraltro conferma di aver fatto fallire tutte le precedenti
relazioni di Mary con rivelazioni fasulle. E` stato l'amico di Ted, che
si scopre essere proprio lo psicotico Woogie. Tucker e Pat salvano Mary
dall'attacco di Woogie, ma Tucker rivela in tal modo di non essere l'invalido
che Mary ha creduto suo amico del cuore. Tutti e quattro si ritrovano davanti
a Mary. Ted ha chiamato anche Brett, il vecchio ragazzo di Mary screditato
da una menzogna di Tucker, e glielo "consegna". Giura a Mary di essere guarito,
di non aver piu` bisogno di lei, e se ne va. Ma appena fuori scoppia a piangere.
Ma Mary lo insegue.
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Green Book (2018), directed by Peter alone, is
a diligent biopic that mostly focuses on the buddy who didn't become famous
(the white man) rather than on the genius (the black man).
The film is overlong with rarely a spark of imagination.
We follow the duo in their tour of the racist south but nothing that happens
really stirs our emotions.
In the 1960s Tony is a bouncer for a New York night club.
The club is closing for renovation and he needs a job for two months.
He is a good husband and good father of two children, surrounded by a large
Italian family.
He is popular in his neighborhood and wins a eating context at a local joint.
After turning down the invitation from friends in the mob, he is summoned at
the office of a "Doctor" who turns out to be a black pianist. His office
is decorated with African motives and the pianist sits on a sort of throne.
He speaks in a snobbish highly educated tone.
He wants Tony to be his chaffeur and butler during a two-month tour.
Tony would like the job but doesn't want to play butler, so he declines
even though he has to pawn his watch to buy food for the family.
The "doctor" calls him and asks to speak with his wife. He offers more money
and the wife is sold, even though the tour ends on Christmas eve.
The day when they start the trip Tony is given a "green book" that contains
the list of hotels, restaurants and gas stations that serve blacks: the
southern states are still segregating blacks out of most white establishments.
Two musicians (one of them Russian) travel in another car.
The trip begins with the almost illiterate Tony trying in vain to strike
a conversation with the educated intellectual black musician.
Tony can't believe that the "doc" doesn't know any of the black pop stars
of the time. The "doc" is a classical pianist, not a pop pianist.
They sleep in a luxury hotel and dine in a high-class restaurant.
The doc is ashamed to hear that Tony played dice with the staff
while he was playing Chopin in front of an ecstatic (and white) audience.
Doc is also implacable in making Tony behave: when Tony steals a jade rock from
a store, Doc forces him to return it. Tony, on the other hand, strictly enforces
respect for his boss. When a (white) technician sets up a lousy piano on stage,
Tony does not hesitate to beat him up to get a proper grand piano.
Tony writes semi-illiterate letters to his wife.
Doc admits to Tony that he lives a rather lonely life, divorced and distanced
from his brother.
Don, who has been trying in vain to teach Tony good manners, begins to like
Tony's low-class manners. Tony even teaches him how to eat fried chicken
with his hands. One night Doc has no choice but to sleep in the only hotel
for blacks while Tony can sleep in a better hotel across the street.
Doc, uncomfortable amid the poor blacks of the neighborhood, makes the mistake
of going for a walk and is harassed by white men. Tony has to rescue him
pretending to have a gun. He tells Doc that he bluffed and has no gun.
Then the car breaks down and Doc has a chance to observe the grim lives of
black sharecroppers, who in return stare at the rare black traveling in
the back of a car. The Doc is welcomed as the special guest in a sort
of plantation mansion but the host refuses to let him use the bathroom that
is reserved for white people. Doc asks Tony to drive him back to the hotel
rather than use the outdoors toilet for blacks. Doc starts helping Tony with
the letters that he write to his wife. His letters become more and more
poetic and romantic. In a store Doc is not allowed to try a jacket.
Episodes of racism rapidly get worse as they enter more and more racist areas,
even though Doc performs in front of enthusiastic crowds.
One day Tony has to rescue Doc from a bigger trouble: he is caught by the cops
indulging in homosexual sex with one of the duo. Tony bribes the cops to
let them free. Doc is not grateful but furious. On the other hand, Doc is afraid
when Tony is offered a job by the mafia boys who are accidentally staying at
the same hotel. It turns out that Doc understands Italian. Tony, however,
tells him not to worry. Doc now dictates the letters that Tony "writes" to
his wife. After another performance and standing ovation, they are stopped
by curious cops in a rural area while it's raining. The cops can't believe
that a white man works for a black man. One of them insults Tony's Italian
heritage and Tony strikes him. The cops throws them in jail. Doc asks to call
his lawyer. Minutes later, the governor of the state calls the sheriff to
immediately release him. Doc lectures Tony on dignity, but also cries that
he is neither black nor white.
They are at the end of the tour, the Christmas show. Doc is received as
a star, as usual, but forbideen to dine with the white guests in the
restaurant for whites only. This time Doc leaves without playing.
Tony and Doc stop a night club for blacks. Everybody stares at Doc, who is
still wearing his tuxedo. Tony tells the bartender that
Doc is a virtuoso pianist and the bartender invites him to play on stage.
Doc plays on a bad piano and the audience is ecstatic. He then accepts
to play with the black musicians. He finally mingled with blacks.
Outside Tony's familiarity with criminals helps: he fires his gun to
scare away two thugs who are ready to assault them. Doc realizes that
Tony was not bluffing that night, he really had a gun.
Doc decides to drive back to New York, drive all night so that Tony can spend
Christmas Eve with his family. Cops stop them in the middle of a snowstorm,
but this time the cops want to help fix one of the tires. Tony can't drive
anymore, he's too tired. Doc takes over and starts driving the sleeping Tony.
They arrive just in time for Tony to join the big dinner with his family.
Tony invites Doc to join them but Doc prefers to spend the evening alone in
his studio. Later, however, Doc shows up at Tony's door and Tony introduces him
to all the Italian relatives, who are initially surprised to see a black man
but then embrace him. Tony's wife thanks Doc for helping Tony write the letters:
she guessed that.
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