Charles B. Wessler

Poor Max Grabelski doesn't have any luck at all. What little he had runs out when local racketeers set the bungling delivery man up to take the fall for their money-laundering schemes. Sure enough, when the government agents arrive, he is found holding a package filled with loot. Not only that, but the Feds think he is the one who killed a notorious gambler/con artist. Max flees and ends up being mistaken, by six Boy Scouts, for the veteran mountain guide who is supposed to take them into the wilderness for a weekend campout. This slapstick comedy chronicles his crazy adventures as the lifelong city dweller tries to survive in the rugged new environment after he leads the trusting troop down the wrong trail to Devil's Peak. Comic mayhem ensues, but in the end, the young men and their new leader learn valuable lessons about themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels play the title roles (though viewers may find themselves debating which is which) in this genially low-brow comedy. Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) are two intellectually-challenged best friends who share an apartment so messy that gangsters aren't sure how to trash the place; the guys also have a certain problem (not difficult to understand) holding on to jobs. Lloyd is working as a limo driver in Rhode Island when he picks up a beautiful and wealthy woman named Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) who is being taken to the airport. Lloyd immediately falls head over heels in love with Mary, and when she leaves a briefcase at the airport, he's determined to return it in hopes of impressing her. Lloyd isn't able to get aboard Mary's flight (though not for lack of trying). Harry has a van decorated to look like a dog (to promote his failing dog-grooming business), and the pair hop in the Poochmobile to find Mary in Aspen. What Lloyd and Harry don't know is that the briefcase is full of money, which Mary deliberately left at the airport as a ransom payment to save the life of her kidnapped husband. Incidentally, Lloyd's chipped front tooth happens to be real; while Jim Carrey had the injured tooth capped many years ago, he thought a broken smile would suit Lloyd's character and had the cap removed for the duration of filming. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Arguably the least successful of the many feature film spin-offs of Saturday Night Live television sketch characters, this comedy barely won a quick theatrical release. Julia Sweeney stars as the titular Pat Riley, an obnoxious, drooling nerd of mind-boggling androgyny. Pat is also a bit of a klutz, which leads to his/her dismissal from a range of workplaces, including a sushi bar and the United States Postal Service. As a next door neighbor, Kyle (Charles Rocket), becomes obsessed with distinguishing Pat's gender, even to the point of seducing Pat and stealing his/her diary, things begin looking up for the plucky hero/heroine. Pat meets a significant other, the equally sexless "Chris" (Dave Foley), gets engaged, and wins fame and success as a frank radio talk-show host. The real-life rock band Ween also plays a significant role in Pat's misadventures, casting him/her in a rock video after catching Pat's cringe-inducing musical performance on the TV show "America's Creepiest People." Despite a rumored rewrite of the script by Sweeney's hip longtime friend Quentin Tarantino, the film was considered one of the year's biggest turkeys. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Jack Black continues his march to stardom with this typical Farrelly brothers blend of broad comedy and a heartfelt message. Black is Hal Larsen, a shallow man rapidly approaching middle age whose superficiality can be attributed to his father's deathbed admonition to only date young, beautiful women. Hal and his best friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander), have taken the advice to heart, but Hal finds all of his physically impressive girlfriends consistently lacking in other qualities that would make them ideal mates. When he bumps into self-help guru Tony Robbins (playing himself), the motivational entrepreneur is intrigued by Hal's predicament and hypnotizes him so that he'll only see the inner beauty of women. Hal is quickly smitten with Rosemary Shanahan (Gwyneth Paltrow), a blonde Peace Corps volunteer who's tenderhearted, funny, and intelligent. She is also gorgeous and meets Hal's basic criteria of outer perfection, but what he doesn't realize is that Robbins' spell is working and he cannot see that Rosemary actually weights 300 pounds. When Mauricio is finally able to snap Hal out of his charmed state, Hal's in love with the inwardly perfect woman and must overcome his obsession with beauty. The script for Shallow Hal (2001) was developed when Peter Farrelly enjoyed the humorous letters written to a mutual friend by Sean Moynihan, a computer software executive who followed the filmmaker's advice to take up screenwriting. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

When 40-year-old San Francisco bachelor Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller) attends the wedding of his ex-fiancée -- and is seated at a "singles table" full of children -- he realizes maybe he's been too picky in his love life, and it's time to settle down. Fortunately, he doesn't have to compromise his standards when he meets Lila (Malin Akerman), a funny, attractive blond who does environmental research for a living. Lila's company wants to relocate her to Europe, but only because she's single -- they don't force married couples to uproot themselves. So Eddie hastily proposes to her, even though they've only been dating for six weeks. But the moment they exchange vows, Eddie starts to notice Lila's rough edges and annoying habits, which had remained hidden underneath her perfect exterior. Their Cabo San Lucas honeymoon gets off to a rough start full of tuneless pop singalongs and surprising revelations about Lila's job and her past. Things only get worse for a confused Eddie when he meets Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), a Midwesterner in Cabo for a family reunion -- and starts to wish he'd held out just a little bit longer. The Heartbreak Kid is Peter and Bobby Farrelly's remake of the 1972 Elaine May comedy of the same name, starring Charles Grodin. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

The Farrelly Brothers set this romantic comedy in their home state of Rhode Island. In 1985, when teen-nerd Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) challenges a high-schooler who's bullying retarded Warren Jenson (W. Earl Brown), his concern prompts Warren's sister, the dazzling and desirable Mary Jenson (Cameron Diaz) to choose Ted as her senior prom date, a fact Ted's pals find hard to believe. However, on prom night, Ted gets his penis caught in his zipper, so the much-desired date never happens. Living in Providence and waxing nostalgic 13 years later, Ted hires Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to locate Mary, and the creepy private investigator finds her in Miami, where she lives with her tan-shriveled roommate Magda (Lin Shaye). After Pat develops a stalker-style fixation on the lovely, unattached Mary, he lies to Ted, telling him that she's now an overweight mother confined to a wheelchair. Employing professional eavesdropping equipment, Pat gathers a dossier on Mary's life and future plans, information that forms the basis for more lies when Pat begins dating her. Sure enough, Mary falls for Pat, although her friend Tucker (Lee Evans) is very suspicious of Pat's claim to be a Harvard-educated architect. Meanwhile, Ted learns the truth but continues to encounter offbeat obstacles as he accelerates to Miami in hopes of finding happiness with his true love. Former Modern Lovers singer Jonathan Richman vocalizes a narrative ballad of onscreen commentary in the Cat Ballou (1965) tradition. Most of the cast sings and frolics to Build Me Up, Buttercup by The Foundations during the closing credits. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide