There's nothing crude about the comedy's skillful execution.
Say It Isn't So (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:102
Fresh:9
Rotten:93
Average Rating:3.1/10
Consensus: Those that haven't tired from Farrelly brothers' brand of comedy may still find some laughs here. Otherwise, the slow pacing and unimaginative shock gags will start to wear on the viewer.
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: With SAY IT ISN'T SO, the Farrelly Brothers (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, DUMB AND DUMBER) give their former First Assistant Director J. B. Rogers a shot at the big time. The result is another... With SAY IT ISN'T SO, the Farrelly Brothers (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, DUMB AND DUMBER) give their former First Assistant Director J. B. Rogers a shot at the big time. The result is another crude comedy that finds laughs in a series of outrageous situations. Working from a script by first-timers Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow, the film tells the confused story of orphan Gilly Noble (Chris Klein), who is employed at an animal shelter in Shelbyville, Indiana. When he lands in the barber's chair of the beautiful Jo Wingfield (Heather Graham), he's convinced he's found the woman of his dreams. A passionate, steamy romance develops, but when Gilly finds out that he and Jo are actually offspring from the same parents, Valdine (Sally Field) and Walter Wingfield (Richard Jenkins), he becomes a social outcast. Jo flees to Beaver, Oregon, to reunite with her former fiancé, the wealthy but conniving Jack Mitchelson (Eddie Cibrian), but when Gilly learns that he isn't Jo's brother after all, he must track her down to win back her affections. Unfortunately, Valdine wants Jack's money, so she will do whatever it takes to keep the truth from coming out. Featuring likeable performances by both Klein and Graham, Rogers's debut is a raucous comedy with a solid supporting cast. [More]
Starring: Chris Klein, Heather Graham, Sally Field, Richard Jenkins
Starring: Chris Klein, Heather Graham, Sally Field, Richard Jenkins, Orlando Jones, Eddie Cibrian, Jack Plotnick, John Rothman, Lin Shaye, Ezra Buzzington, Brent Hinkley, Jack Pellegrino, Courtney Peldon, Richard Riehle, Sarah Silverman
Director: J.B. Rogers
Director: J.B. Rogers
Screenwriter: Peter Gaulke, Gerry Swallow
Producer: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Bradley Thomas
Composer: Mason Daring
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Say It Isn't So
As creepily funny as the premise is, the execution leaves something to be desired.
Whether you will laugh at Say It Isn't So will depend on your appreciation for crude, gross, outrageous jokes.
A one-joke, one-note turkey that works over Sam Shepard's Fool for Love as a mistaken identity farce hammered into the Mary blueprint, but without any of its invention, energy or heart.
Despite a fun and goofy opening, and a decent, if outlandish premise, the film squanders the latter and doesn't maintain the former, thus resulting in an overall lackluster comedy.
Stroke jokes, prosthesis jokes, jokes about body hair and smells, and jokes involving the private parts of cows can't keep this one afloat.
Not even the beaver jokes are funny in this rangy, uneven Farrelly brothers rip-off.
Say isn't nearly as funny as Mary. But when it is funny, it's funny in the same tasteless way.
Even by the proudly vulgar, dumbed-down standards of the Farrelly Brothers' novelty products, Say It Isn't So is an uninspired dud.
Lacks the inspiration, genuine wit and raunchy charm of 1998's outrageous There's Something About Mary.
There are a few giggles among the grossness, but with movie tickets going for more than $7 a pop these days, don't you want more?
A scattershot shock comedy that bounces between romantic cliche and new-millennium risque to the point of irritation and, all too quickly, boredom.
Say It Isn't So is the kind of movie that makes Dumb & Dumber and Kingpin, a couple of early Farrelly Brothers movies I was not fond of, seem like comedic triumphs.
The last time I felt so guilty about laughing so heartily at something so lowbrow and gross was at There's Something About Mary.
Latest News for Say It Isn't So
July 25, 2005:
"Knight" Scribes Are Now a Pair of "Happy Campers"
Variety reports that screenwriting duo Peter Gaulke & Gerry Swallow have sold their screenplay "Happy Campers" to New Line. More...
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