Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
48 17 Again
76 Adventureland
48 Angels & Demons
54 Battle for Terra
xx Bruno
80 Coraline
40 Dance Flick
83 Drag Me to Hell
72 Earth
45 Fast & Furious
61 Fighting
34 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
72 Gran Torino
73 Hangover, The
47 Hannah Montana: The Movie
51 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
54 Imagine That
41 Knowing
32 Land of the Lost
56 Monsters vs. Aliens
34 My Life in Ruins
51 My Sister's Keeper
46 Next Day Air
42 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
54 Observe and Report
25 Obsessed
48 Proposal, The
70 Public Enemies
61 Soloist, The
83 Star Trek
64 State of Play
55 Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
52 Terminator Salvation
35 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
77 Under the Sea 3D
88 Up
43 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
34 Year One

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

There's Something About Mary
20th Century Fox Film Corporation


8.6

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for strong comic sexual content and language

Starring Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott, Lin Shaye, Jeffrey Tambor, and Markie Post

An outrageous, gross-out romantic comedy starring Cameron Diaz as every guy's ideal and Ben Stiller as her hopeless suitor.

GENRE(S):	Comedy
WRITTEN BY:	Ed Decter (also story) John J. Strauss (also story) Peter Farrelly Bobby Farrelly
DIRECTED BY:	Bobby Farrelly Peter Farrelly
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 6, 2001 Video: June 4, 2002 Theatrical: July 15, 1998
RUNNING TIME:	119 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Sensational, sicko fun -- you won't believe your eyes -- and just the thing to shake up the creeping conservatism that is draining the vulgar life out of pop culture.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

In the person of Cameron Diaz, Mary is an island of sanity, good-natured humanity and genuine sweetness in an ocean of anarchy. Without her presence, There's Something About Mary would be merely sophomoric and tasteless.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Joe Garden

One of the funniest movies of the year, but you may need to shower afterwards.

Slate David Edelstein

Even when you're able to guess the next calamity, it's still a shock in its ejaculatory intensity. The Farrellys never throw in the towel. Pretentious Sundance independents could learn a lot from such pistols.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

The day after seeing it, you're less likely to fixate on the flaws than to find yourself experiencing chuckle aftershocks as you recall the most outrageous gags. In these days of mostly forgettable comedies, that sensation has become all too rare. [15 July 1998]

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

A gut-busting blast of tasteless tomfoolery.

New York Daily News Dave Kehr

A shocking and hilarious triumph.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Their gross-out humor is basically sweet tempered, for all its tweaking of PC attitudes, and though this film looks slapdash, its script (by the Farrellys, Ed Decter, and John J. Strauss) is surprisingly well put together.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

The Farrellys here show a gift not just for finding humor where others have feared to look but for presenting it in a way that is surprisingly close to irresistible.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

A romantic comedy that's a hoot in every sense, worth a smidgen of disapproval and a whole lot of helpless laughter...The film works ridiculously well because it never stoops to being mean-spirited or (despite all appearances) authentically inane.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

Their taste is as bad as their timing is exquisite.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

This one is dumbest. And funniest, as if that matters even a little bit!

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

After months and months of comedies that did not make me laugh, here at last is one that did.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

[The film] occasionally had me convulsed with laughter.

Film Threat

The performers all fall effortlessly into their slapstick roles and the troubadour duo -- the film's Greek chorus -- adds a delightfully poetic touch.

Time Richard Corliss

For those who park their sense and sensibility at the 'plex door, there's plenty to enjoy in the performances, the rowdy innocence of the whole thing, the closing sing-along of Build Me Up Buttercup--and the vision of Cameron Diaz in giggly, gangly bloom.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Crudely made, somewhat overlong and larded with plenty of things that don't work, pic stands as proof positive that a comedy can be far from perfect and still hit the bull's-eye if it delivers when it counts in its big scenes.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A surprisingly large number of the laughs work, although, understandably, a good number of them also fall flat. You can bet that whenever the story slows down to advance the plot concerning its paper-thin characters, the film takes a noticeable dip.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

There are several scenes in There's Something About Mary that are so absurdly original and outrageous they will leave audiences talking about them for weeks.

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

A supremely silly movie, which means that it has moments of boring idiocy mixed with moments of inspired hilarity.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The laughs are low -- very low -- and the comedy often flags. But two elaborate sequences involving a bad-tempered little ankle-biter are standouts.

Newsweek Kendall Hamilton

If the film has a problem, it's that the Farrelly brothers, co-writers and directors, seem content to bunt for long stretches between home runs.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Fitfully amusing and ultimately kind of heartwarming in a twisted sort of way

Salon.com Charles Taylor

The type of comedy the Farrellys love requires dizzy, pell-mell pacing. If There's Something About Mary were tightened up by about 20 minutes, it would be much funnier.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The gem in this rag pile is Cameron Diaz as Mary: quick, witty, pretty, warm. There is something about Mary. [17 Aug 1998]

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This comedy is as down-and-dirty as you'd expect from the Farrelly team...but more than one sequence manages to be hilarious on its own outrageously crass terms.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The Farrellys may well be the new kingpins of adolescent slob comedy, but There's Something About Mary doesn't approach the witty anarchy of movies like "Animal House," "The Naked Gun," or "Hairspray."

New York Magazine David Denby

The general insensitivity of the atmosphere gets one down after a while. None of these people go together: Friends don't seem like friends, lovers don't seem like lovers. In brief, it's not enough just to have bad taste. You have to have talent, too.

Film.com Peter Brunette

This reprehensible and deeply unfunny film is obviously critic-proof.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

J. Ryan G. gave it a4:
Filled with moments that you may only laugh at when you hear the laughs of others, TSAM is too long and boring to be considered a true comedy. It may only be considered a way to waste two-plus hours of a useless Saturday afternoon.

Andrew M. gave it a 9:
Poor taste, non-PC and in truth gutter humour...and also one of the funniest films I've ever seen. This is a really great comedy, unique and fresh. Doesn't really hold up to too many repeat viewings, but that's only due to the side-splitting impact the first one delivers. If you can handle a grimace or two, and you're not a prude, get this movie and laugh yourself silly!

Pat C. gave it a 9:
God, it was gross. Awful. But what refreshing new humor! I never laughed so hard at a movie. I even found myself engrossed in the corny plot and laughed at the stuffed dog, a.k.a. action figure. But Sorry Brett, stick to football. The show came to a screeching halt when you showed up. No offense, but you were cold water thrown on people I thought were cartoon characters chasing the unflappable Diaz.

Davorin P. gave it a 10:
Something about Mary is so funny, that I almost felt out of a chair when I saw it the first time -- several times. It didn't get better the second, and the third time, but I didn't mind watching it all over again. Best Farelly bros. movie EVER.

Jack D. gave it a 10:
So funny it's actually physically painful!!

Dagny gave it a 10:
I've been waiting for decades for a movie that would make me laugh as much as "Animal House". Casting and acting were wonderful. Gross out humour but at a high art level. I wish the Farrelly Brothers (and Seinfeld) would start a Comedy Institute to teach the other so-called "comedy" producers the true meaning of what it takes to make people laugh.

There's Something About Mary 20th Century Fox Film Corporation

There's Something About Mary
20th Century Fox Film Corporation