Classic Comedy

Laziness + HBO = Retro rewinds

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998) (A) - I remember first watching this at a late screening on a weeknight at the second-run dollar show in La Grange, Illinois. It was a last-minute decision, and I was by myself, and I howled like an idiot throughout this Farrelly Brothers comedy.

Ben Stiller at the top of his game. Cameron Diaz playing goofy so well. Utterly childish humor from start to finish. Watching solo again, I laughed away a bunch more brain cells.

I'm not a huge Farrelly fan -- my other favorites are "Dumb & Dumber" and "Stuck on You" -- but I think the key to their successful films is that they get their actors to be good sports and to leave all dignity behind (like Jeff Daniels in "D&D" and Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon in "Stuck"). Matt Dillon as the ridiculous villain (a cousin to Kevin Kline's Otto in "A Fish Called Wanda") with the silly mustache fills that role here. And Diaz -- dazzling with those translucent eyes, pixie haircut and athletic build -- goes all out despite a budding career, at the time, in rom-coms.

The slapstick is not confined to the infamous "styling-mousse" scene: There's the running gag about her brother Warren being sensitive about people touching his ears. Lee Evans doing his spastic balancing act as the handicap-fraud Tucker. The scary-tan old lady Magda (Lin Shaye), years ahead of her time. Matt Dillon's teeth and his frantic attempts to revive a dead dog using the electrical cord from a lamp. Stiller getting attacked by various characters, animals, zippers and fish hooks.

The idea that the Farrellys have comedy to burn is evident by the casting of three fundamentally funny people in relatively minor roles; ho-hum, it's Chris Elliott, Sarah Silverman and Jeffrey Tambor. And then there's Jonathan Richman, with original songs, as the traveling troubadour, and "Build Me Up Buttercup" accompanying the clowning closing credits. Keith David in a '70s 'fro wig.

This is the Farrellys with an overflowing trick bag and a story that bears repeated viewing.

BROADWAY DANNY ROSE (1984) (B) - I would have given this an A, I'm sure, when it came out. It's one of the last tolerable Woody Allen films. Things have changed.

Allen, as the sad-sack agent of the title, sports a full Woody here, and it's a reminder of how appealing his stammering shlub shtick was before it all went south.

The story is simplistic. After dealing with a steady parade of anachronistic loser performers for years, one of Danny's old-timers gets hot as a nostalgia act. In order to keep Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte) happy and in good voice, though, Danny must baby-sit Lou's mistress, a floozy named Tina Vitale (Mia Farrow, alas), who is surrounded by mob types. And those thugs, of course, end up chasing Danny around New York and New Jersey.

There's enough of a time buffer here, looking back, to be able to separate these lovable kooky characters from present-day Woody & Mia and the unpleasantness of their real life. Farrow is barely recognizable in a big blond wig and sunglasses. A greek chorus of old comedians, led by Sandy Baron, narrates, adding another layer between real life and the corny caper unfolding.

By the third act, Danny's own act gets a bit predictable and tiresome (Allen beats several gags into the ground), but there's a legitimate personal story here, and that gets us to the happy ending we always secretly hoped was possible.