Around the turn of the 21st century, there were a whole bunch of movies that take a series of disparate episodes and tie them together on the streets of Los Angeles. “Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her” (2001) is not the best one of those movies. On paper, having Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart and Holly Hunter tell stories about the love lives of complex women is a good idea, but paper is where it should have stayed, because the dialogue is so affected, the performers sound like they’re reading, not acting.
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“There’s Something About Mary” helped launch the modern era of bro-humor comedies (“Hot Tub Time Machine,” “The Hangover,” Seth Rogen’s entire career). In 1998, mining humor from the mentally retarded, catching your scrotum in your zipper and mistaking semen for hair gel was somewhat taboo. Now you see all that and more in the trailer for a Will Farrell flick. But “Mary” deserves credit for shock-humor originality. Cameron Diaz nails her part. And admit it, some scenes are a hoot (franks and beans; the serial killer sequence; Ben Stiller mispronouncing Brett Favre’s name). Plus, the minstrel/soundtrack is prominent and excellent.
“Feeling Minnesota” (1996) is a yucky movie about yucky people doing yucky things. Keanu Reeves, whose flatliner delivery typically doesn’t bother me all that much, sounds like he has brain damage. He and Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays his brother, stagger around like they’re possessed by that alien bug that got inside D’Onofrio in “Men in Black.” Dan Aykroyd, Cameron Diaz and Delroy Lindo appropriately bumble along as equally unlikeable supporting characters. The plot is basically just everyone screwing over each other for money. By the time the climax rolls around, you’d just like to see someone do something competently. Anything.
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