YMMV / There's Something About Mary

• Award Snub: In his book Which Lie Do I Tell?, William Goldman criticised the Academy Awards for not giving the film any nominations.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Ted getting his genitals torn up is humiliating to say the least. Having the entire neighborhood witness it, followed by the paramedics dropping his stretcher so he ends up with a busted elbow pushes it far enough that the whole incident seems too over the top to be taken seriously.
  • Dom works at a law firm. When Ted shows up at his place of business, we see he's working on a presentation called "Bus Crash - 12 Kids Killed; What Does This Cost Us?".
  • Tucker dropping his keys and awkwardly trying to pick them up despite his handicap is awkward to watch. Having it happen again mere seconds later merits a chuckle. And then we find out "Tucker" was never disabled to begin with, which makes the whole struggle earlier look postively hilarious!
• Harsher in Hindsight: Brett Favre had a wholesome image at the time and makes the "perfect boyfriend" image make sense. However, several real-life incidents after the film's release have had fans noting he's no better than the sleazy suitors in pursuit of Mary. During his final years with the New York Jets, it was reported that Favre harassed Jets TV personality Jenn Decker (née Sterger) by sending her sexual texts and unsolicited nude photos of himself. In 2022, allegations arose that Favre siphoned away money marked for state welfare programs for speaking appearances and to build a volleyball center at his daughter's alma mater.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: One of the cops who interrogates Ted after he's arrested at the gay orgy at the rest stop is named Detective Stabler. Even more hilariously, he's not the Rabid Cop of the pair.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The hitchhiker that Ted picks up. Aside from his wired disposition, the two detectives confirm that the bag he was carrying during that whole scene had a hacked up corpse inside.
  • Woogie's fear factor is amplified by his supposed lack of screentime. We don't get to make an impression of him until the very end of the movie, but in the meantime Mary repeatedly brings up just how distressing it was having this guy around her.
  • The fate of Sully in the extended version. He gets eaten by his pet boa constrictor, Bill.
• One-Scene Wonder: Keith David as Mary's stepfather. And the police officer who's going to break Ted. Harland Williams as the serial killer who's going to sell seven minute abs.
• Signature Scene: Even people who've never seen the movie know about the infamous "semen in the hair" gag.
• Squick:
  • The painful close-up of Ted's genitals caught in his fly.
  • Magda's sagging leather breasts. During the end credits she even plays with them.
  • Just the fact that after stumbling in the dark, Ted didn't realize his face was inches away from another man's junk.
  • The glob of semen hanging off Ted's ear.
• Tear Jerker: Near the end there is a scene where Ted thinks he's blown it with Mary forever, and walks away sobbing loudly while being tormented by memories of all the good times he spent with Mary. Fortunately she picks him after all.
  • The Greek Chorus that plays at this point sounds a lot more anguished. The guitarist is singing in a defeated tone of voice while the drummer is shedding tears.
• Values Resonance:
  • Mary rightfully calls out Pat for using ableist slurs such as "retard".
  • As with other Farrelly films that touch on the subject, the movie laughs with but not at Warren and treats him respectfully as a character. The Farrellys are well-known for their real-life work with special-needs people.
    • When Warren is first introduced, a pair of teens decide to pull a prank at his expense, exploiting his naivety by convincing him to ask a woman if she's seen his "wiener" instead of his baseball; while the instigating characters are never seen again and thus seem to get away with it, they're not shown in a sympathetic light, and the scene is ultimately played for drama, as Ted steps in to defend Warren from the girl's angry boyfriend despite having never met him at this point.
• The Woobie:
  • Ted, especially during the zipper scene and towards the end of the film.
  • Mary, naturally. She's beset on all sides by men who will sink to any depths to snag her. Woogie was one example so toxic that she had to upend her whole life to get away from him.

---