The Heartbreak Kids: Bobby & Peter Farrelly

by Brian Hickey | Published October 8, 2007

Watching the Farrelly brothers’ career evolve is a lot like watching a kid grow up. They started primarily with writing and directing gross-out humor (see the scene in Dumb & Dumber where a character drinks a bottle of urine, or the infamous “hair gel” scene in There’s Something About Mary), but as they grew up, they began to focus more on human emotions and interactions. Even comparing Dumb & Dumber to There’s Something About Mary--movies made only four years apart--seems ridiculous.

Sure they have stumbled along the way (even Peter considers Me, Myself & Irene their worst film), but they keep moving. With each subsequent movie, audiences can watch as the brothers tweak little things here and there to experiment with the final result. Case in point: Their last directorial effort, Fever Pitch (2005), was a rather successful attempt at a “regular” romantic comedy.

Re-teaming with their There’s Something About Mary star Ben Stiller, the Farrelly brothers will next release The Heartbreak Kid, a remake of the 1972 movie of the same name. While Stiller, boldly showing his graying hair, appears to be playing an older version of his There’s Something About Mary character, it will be interesting to see how working with a script by a more grown up version of the Farrelly brothers will play out. The movie opened wide, Friday, October 5.