The comic writer/director duo Farrelly brothers have not made an R-rated film since 2000's Me, Myself & Irene, and they won't let that stand.
This October, the brothers plan to perfect their infamously over-the-top obscenities with the release of The Heartbreak Kid, starring Ben Stiller (Night at the Museum).
"It's a sex comedy, a real sex comedy," says Peter Farrelly. "In the French tradition, I mean we have nudity. Knocked Up was great, but you never saw her breasts. They slept together, but she still had her top on. What's going on?"
Brothers Peter and Bobby recalled seeing this year's top comedies Knocked Up and Superbad and being impressed.
"Man these are good movies, good for these guys, they are really going for it. This is what is working these days," said the filmmakers.
The brothers are pros at "going for it"; molding a career around risky comedy and even riskier content, as seen in films such as There's Something About Mary.
The Heartbreak Kid is actually a remake, originally a movie released in 1972 and directed by Elaine May, based on a short story by Bruce Jay Friedman and adapted by Neil Simon.
"We were offered Heartbreak Kid five years ago and we passed," said Peter Farrelly. "We love it and it's a classic, and we didn't want to remake it. One night, we took a friend home and sat him down to watch it, and we saw some cracks in its armor. It wasn't aging as well as it should."
And while the title is a carbon copy of the original, the new version of the movie is far from a simple remake. The script, by Scot Armstrong (School for Scoundrels) and Leslie Dixon (Hairspray), has been rebooted for modern audiences, not to mention an R-rating.
"R-rated is going to be here for awhile; society just calls for it. The country is more open to R-rated comedies. The best TV is coming from cable like HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central. With R-rating, we surprised the audience. Half the country was in shock after There's Something about Mary," the brothers said.
And although Stiller and the Farrelly brothers have not worked together since the 1998 hit Mary, the comedian has been called back to play the lead role in Heartbreak.
"We love Ben," said P. Farrelly. "Ben has become a conglomerate and way more involved than he was on There's Something about Mary. Same chemistry, but not the same experience."
Stiller has been called on many occasions by the brothers to play roles in their movies, but he was either too busy or uninterested.
"We've always had good relationships with our actors. When we're done, we always say we'd love to work with them again," Bobby said. "This happened to be the right role for Ben Stiller. People really like Ben."
The Farrelly brothers have worked with such comic geniuses as Jim Carrey and Bill Murray, and feel comedians change the course of a film.
"We have to feel 100 percent of the script is there; we wouldn't start if it wasn't. It's more like 75 percent because 25 of it you'll find while shooting it and when the actors let loose," Peter said. "That's where you come up with a lot of gems, ad-libs. In Kingpin, Bill Murray ad-libbed 90 percent of his performance - he basically made up his lines."
In The Heartbreak Kid, Ben Stiller and Malin Akerman (The Brothers Solomon) work off of each other to take the film to a higher level of comedy.
Akerman is not known for her comedic talents, but the brothers have great faith in the success of her performance.
"We found her in the audition process," Bobby said. "We brought in the top 100 girls in Hollywood no one knew, and she just nailed the part much better than the next person. She was perfect. Funniest female role we have ever been involved in."
The future of the Farrelly brothers looks bright with a movie version of The Three Stooges in the works.
"We are going to make the movie, but just don't know when," Bobby said.
The Heartbreak Kid, starring Ben Stiller, Malin Akerman, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller and Carlos Mencia is to be released Oct. 5, marking the 11th time the brothers have worked together on the silver screen.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
