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Review added January 13, 2005.                 Me, Myself & Irene :: DVD Review  

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Studio: 20th Century Fox >> Review Equipment
Video: 1.78:1 (Enhanced for 16:9) Length: 112 Minutes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 (384kbps) En Subtitles: En
Video Format: PAL   Disc Format: DVD-5
Layer Change: NA Disc Capacity Utilised: X.XXGB
Average Bit-Rate (A+V): X.XXMbps Region Coding: 4
     
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:: The Film ::

 
 

>> Skip to Audio/Video Details

From the brothers that brought us 'Kingpin', 'Dumb and Dumber' and 'There's Something About Mary' comes Me, Myself & Irene, starring Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger. If you've seen the Farrelly brothers' previous films, you probably have some idea of what to expect. If you haven't, you may be in for a shock.

Like the Farrelly brothers' previous films, Me, Myself & Irene stretches the boundaries of accepted humour (and good taste), and while it isn't quite as gross as the brothers' previous films, still contains more than enough politically incorrect and just plain gross humour to offend virtually anyone. Jim Carrey stars as Charlie Baileygates, a downtroden Rhode Island state trooper whose years of accumulated rage finally manifest themselves in the form of a split personality named Hank, the aggressive and obnoxious antithesis of meek and passive Charlie.




When Charlie's split-personality disorder is diagnosed, he is assigned the task of returning prisoner Irene Waters (played by Renee Zellweger) to New York, where a warrant for her arrest has been issued. His superiors believe the assignment will be a stress-free break for Charlie. They couldn't be more wrong. Charlie/Hank is a role the rubber-faced Canuck seems born to play, and while the film contains a few too many slow patches and failed gags, enough spark to make this an entertaining experience for those who enjoy the farrellys' work.
 
  :: Video ::
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This 1.78:1 anamorphically-enhanced transfer looks very good. The image presented is free of any significant film artefacts, and is as sharp as the source material will allow. Aliasing is never a problem, and shimmer is minor when present (as at 24:08); this is a very smooth looking transfer. I was unable to detect any obvious use of edge enhancement, nor was there any significant grain to mar the transfer.

Shadow detail is good if not exceptional, as is the transfer's black level, and there are no compression artefacts to be seen. Colours are vibrant with several exterior shots quite dazzling, although some sequences looked slightly oversaturated, and skin tones sometimes appeared to be a little on the 'hot' side. This is a very good transfer from 20th Century Fox.
 

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  :: Audio ::
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Not surprisingly for a dialogue-driven comedy, much of this Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is rooted firmly in the centre channel, with only a handful of directional cues and much of the film's music spread across the front channels. Dialogue is always easy to understand, but ADR dialogue is poorly recorded and integrated into the soundtrack.

The surround channels are frequently silent, but contain subtle ambient effects during several exterior scenes, as well as several considerably less subtle surround channel audio pans (as at 27:59 and 84:28). I was unable to detect any activity from the LFE channel. This soundtrack won't push your audio system; 'functional' being the operative word here, but is a little more creative than the dull efforts mounted for most comedies. 
 

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