ON THE SET - fall sneaks - Anything for a laugh - To make the type of raucous comedy they are known for, Bobby and Peter Farrelly cultivate a loose, lowbrow atmosphere.
The rugby shirt has a crest on its left breast pocket that depicts a rooster over the letters M and E.
You know it's meant to be funny because half a dozen people -- including Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the Mayors of Funny -- stand around the movie set with expectant grins on their faces waiting for the glorious moment when you get just how hilarious it is. Crew members glance over, smirking. Producer Bradley Thomas ripples the shirt a little for encouragement. C'mon . . .
And. . . no. Don't get it. Not yet, anyway.
Which is just fine with them because if any two guys have confidence in knowing precisely what is funny -- and why -- it's the guys behind "Dumb and Dumber," "Kingpin" and "Stuck on You."
As it later turns out, the shirt -- a cast-and-crew-only marketing brainstorm spawned just the day before -- says everything you need to know about the tone of the Farrellys' new film, a bawdy remake of "The Heartbreak Kid." But it will be awhile before that is made clear. Both writer-directors describe with evident pride how this latest filmic escapade represents a return to the raucous, hard-R humor of "There's Something About Mary," their $176-million breakout nine years ago.
To underline the point, "Mary" star Ben Stiller is back on hand as sympathetic court jester in the kind of role he's since trademarked. Friends of the Farrellys once again dapple the crew. Everyone's smiling. The set is suffused with a low-grade glow, as if everybody's in on one great private dirty joke. Even Steven Spielberg has been spotted on the Universal soundstage a few times, watching the filming and giggling discreetly.
"Every day's a good day," says Bobby.
Though Neil Simon wrote the screenplay for the original 35 years ago, the updated "Kid" story line smells like vintage Farrellys. Forty-year-old Eddie (Stiller) meets Lila (Malin Akerman) at an ex-girlfriend's wedding, dates her for six weeks -- during which she requests a demure sex ban -- and then marries her. Once they've flown off to Cabo San Lucas for their honeymoon, Lila abruptly transforms from a shrinking violet into a Penis Fly Trap, a sexually voracious nut case with a hilariously combative seduction style and a neediness that borders on psychosis. When a run-in with scorching sunburn imprisons her in the hotel, Eddie stumbles out into the vacation paradise alone and ends up falling for Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), who's vacationing with her family.
- TOMORROW IN CALENDAR Aug 31, 1999
- Go Ahead, Try Not to Laugh Jul 15, 1998
- Are the kings of bad taste really a pair of softies? Dec 07, 2003
