FILM REVIEW By JASON LLOREN
Blast San Francisco Bureau

Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the comedy writer/director team that gave us "Kingpin," know gross. In that film - quite possibly the funniest movie to combine bowling, gambling, '70s fashion and the Amish - so much toilet humor was flung at the audience you could scrape it off the walls. But at its core, "Kingpin" had some heart: a simple story about a broken man who learns that winning isn't everything.

In their latest comedy, "There's Something About Mary," the Farrelly brothers give us another story about a likable loser. This time, they throw in a winning babe, a couple of stalkers and a mean little puppy. As for the toilet humor, the shit hits the fan again.

Ben Stiller plays Ted Stroehmann, a late 20s writer in Boston who is so obsessed with the high school prom date that got away that he hires a sleazy P.I. named Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to track her down.

Healy succeeds in finding Mary (Cameron Diaz), a sexy orthopedic surgeon living in Miami. But after tracking her down, Pat falls for her. He returns to Boston and lies to Ted, telling him that Mary is no longer the teenage babe Ted remembers. Healy moves to Miami and is soon wooing her.

Ted learns of Pat's duplicity and hits the road to Miami, but he gets sidetracked after getting mistakenly arrested and jailed in the South. Eventually, he makes it to Miami and re-acquaints himself with Mary. They hit it off - but now Ted and Pat, like two roosters after the same hen, are vying for this female's affections.

"In an early scene set during Ted and Mary's prom date, Ted gets his "frank and beans" caught in his pants zipper."

The boy-meets-girl plot sounds like Jane Austen on the surface, right? Not exactly, the Farrellys throw in enough twisted touches, dementedly comic sequences and wacky characters to make "Mary" a sidesplitting yet precise farce. The Farellys string together several comic sequences, all with achingly comedic result. These guys also push the bounds of taste and are not afraid to take the low road of comedy to sell a joke. Even if it means ripping a scrotum or two.

"If you ever considered Diaz simply a model who got a little too lucky snagging choice roles, think again.."

In an early scene set during Ted and Mary's prom date, Ted gets his "frank and beans" caught in his pants zipper. Other directors would cut the scene after the scream, but the Farrellys let the gag run on and on until it hurts laughing.

There are a couple of great sequences involving a cute but mean dog named Puffy. Dillon, who proves quite adept at physical and verbal comedy, is hilarious in one scene as he frantically fumbles to resuscitate an OD'd Puffy. In a later scene, Stiller - who I swear in addition to his comic genes must posses some comedic elixir - wrestles with a coked-up Puffy and gets his genitals caught in its canines.

Diaz basically plays the straight babe, a job she fills quite well. If you ever considered Diaz simply a model who got a little too lucky snagging choice roles, think again. She's in probably 70 percent of the film and serves as the glue that keeps the film together. She has a charm and smile that gives Mary that certain "Something."

"Jokes about masturbation, the mentally disabled, and sagging breasts don't just stain the film; they lubricate it."

The story gets crazier as the Farrellys inject odd twists and more supporting characters. Gobs and goop full of the brothers' trademark bathroom are in abundance. Jokes about masturbation, the mentally disabled, and sagging breasts don't just stain the film; they lubricate it.

Amid all this wackiness, the Farrellys do a genius job playing off the idea of stalking and obsession, a notion the directors hone in on like fine laser. The film's ending continues that theme and the comic payoff is satisfying and hilarious. Even then, the film manages to have a little heart. There's something sweet about "Mary." Yes, the film tells us, even the loser can still get the girl.