Me, Myself & Irene: When Jim Carrey Found The Humor In Mental Health!!!
Growing up, I was aware of Jim Carrey through the iconic sketch comedy show "In Living Color" created by Keenan Ivory Wayans. I had older cousins who LOVED The Mask, Ace Ventura & Dumb & Dumber, but personally I just thought his films were okay, I guess. However, when I saw Me, Myself & Irene, even today, I still think this is Top 5 or Top 10 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time!!! This movie truly showed Jim's brilliance as an actor & I think he's the only one who could've pulled this film off.
In 2000, Jim starred as Charlie Baileygates, a Rhode Island State Trooper, who thought he found the perfect woman to be his wife. However, on their wedding day, his wife Layla, cheated on him with their limousine driver, who turned out to be a genius named Shontae Jackson. Layla would leave Charlie for Shontae & even worse, they would leave behind their children, three twin boys, Shontae Jr. Lee Harvey & Jamal for Charlie to raise as his own. It would go on to make Charlie, the laughing stock of Rhode Island, causing him to repress his emotions & it led to him developing an alter ego, split personality named Hank Evans, who became the much angrier, sarcastic, "bad boy" version of Charlie.
As a Rhode Island State Trooper, Charlie was assigned to escort Irene Waters(played by Renee Zellweger) to New York to be put in a witness protection program because her ex-boyfriend Dickie, wants to have her killed. Irene didn't trust the State Troopers protection plan, so Irene went on the run, with Charlie.... & Hank. That would become quite the adventure, because she would go on to learn more about Charlie...& Hank, who would end up fighting with each other for Irene's heart & affection. Charlie would eventually go on to prevail, defeating his inner demon, Hank, defeating Irene's ex-boyfriend Dickie & live happily ever after with Irene & his three adopted Black sons & a new albino waiter named "Whitey" that Irene met in a diner, that Hank insulted.
What inspired me to write this article? The backlash that Jim Carrey got for his take on the Will Smith/Chris Rock "slap-gate" at the Oscars. Social Media, Youtubers & podcasts such as The Read were not too fond of Jim Carrey's take on Will's actions. Well, ironically, to be fair, in the movie, there's a scene where Charlie was watching 2 standup comedy specials with his 3 adopted children, first the young children version of them were watching Richard Pryor, then the teenage version of them were watching Chris Rock's "Bring the Pain." So, it appears that Jim spoke in defense of Chris Rock, but all he really said was that there was something deeper going on inside of Will Smith, that made him snap that night. Who would know better than Jim Carrey, the man that found humor in mental health??? Which has become IMPOSSIBLE today!
All in all, this movie & performance showcased Jim's brilliance as an actor, but it also showed how far ahead of their time Jim & the writers, director & producers of this film were on the topic of mental health. Nowadays, mental health is a major topic of discussion, but in 2000, it was really put on the backburner, yet movies like "The Joker" can score an Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix, yet & still, 1 of, if not THEE FIRST MOVIE that highlighted Mental Health, Me, Myself & Irene gets grossly overlooked, because it made us laugh. Sadly, this movie might not fly today in this "Cancel Culture" & Politically Correct era in the 2020s, BUT I strongly believe this movie aged VERY well & I am just so glad that it was made at a time when "laughter was the best medicine!"