Bobby and Peter Farrelly are responsible for some of the most beloved comedic films produced over the past quarter-century. The filmmaking siblings broke onto the Hollywood scene with their 1994 hit debut feature film Dumb and Dumber, which launched their career and helped turn Jim Carrey into one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.
Before going their separate ways in 2018, the Farrelly Brothers co-directed 12 feature films together from 1994 t0 2014. In 2021, Bobby Farrelly is poised to helm the TV series The Now, while Peter is set to direct an untitled film for Skydance based on the book The Greatest Beer Run Ever Made.
Best: Stuck On You (2003)
For their farcical slapstick comedy about two conjoined twins, the Farrelly brothers cast dramatic actors Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear against type. As a result, the film drew ample plaudits from critics and general audience members.
Bob (Damon) and Walt Tenor (Kinnear) are twin brothers literally stuck to one another since birth. Unable to separate due to their shared liver, the two siblings face a new obstacle when Walt voices his desire to become a professional actor, much to the dismay of his timid brother Bob.
Worst: Hall Pass (2011)
Despite boasting a funny high-concept premise, Hall Pass resulted in a substandard Farrelly Brothers comedy when released in 2011. The movie follows married besties Fred (Jason Sudeikis) and Rick (Owen Wilson) after being granted a free one-night stand by their spouses.
More specifically, Rick and Fred are given a week to act as wild and reckless as possible without marital consequence. While they bide their time looking for the perfect suitors, the men are oblivious to their wives’ extramarital activity.
Best: Kingpin (1996)
The Farrelly Brothers’ sophomore film Kingpin still ranks as one of their absolute best, thanks in large part to the hilarious chemistry between Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, and Bill Murray.
The road-film traces the comedic exploits of Roy Munson (Harrelson), a washed-up bowler with a prosthetic hand who finds newfound inspiration when meeting a skilled Amish bowler named Ishmael (Quaid). As the two men hit the road to hustle bowlers across the country, Roy seeks redemption by defeating his archenemy Big Ernie McCracken (Murray) in a high-profile tournament.
Worst: The Three Stooges (2012)
Despite the good intentions and the critical applause for its three lead actors, The Three Stooges marks the second-to-last film Bobby and Peter Farrelly co-directed together.
With subpar reviews for their filmmaking and screenplay, the film stars Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, and Chris Diamantoupolos as the iconic title characters Larry, Curly, and Moe. When the stooges make a heartfelt attempt to save their childhood orphanage, they stumble on a murder-mystery plot proving difficult to solve.
Best: Dumb And Dumber (1994)
The self-made Farrelly Brothers hit the ground running with the very first filmmaking credit of their careers in Dumb and Dumber, a massive comedic smash that turned a $17 million budget into a $247 million global moneymaker.
The film stars Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas, a dim-witted limo driver who goes on a cross-country road trip with his equally-idiotic pal Harry (Jeff Daniels) to return a briefcase to his love-at-first-sight crush, Mary (Lauren Holly). The film inspired a 20-year sequel and propelled the brothers’ career into the A-list.
Worst: The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
In a remake of the 1972 Charles Grodin comedy, the Farrelly Brothers reunited with Ben Stiller for The Heartbreak Kid in 2007. Stiller plays Eddie, a newlywed who believes he married the woman of his dreams in Lila (Malin Akerman).
While on their honeymoon in Cabo, Eddie soon realizes Lila is a monstrous mismatch and regrets his decision to marry her. The regret increases when Eddie meets the far more suitable Miranda (Michelle Monahan) in Mexico.
Best: There’s Something About Mary (1998)
In addition to earning roughly $370 million at the international box-office, the Farrelly Brothers’ 1998 smash-hit comedy There’s Something About Mary also landed Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress (Cameron Diaz).
Ben Stiller stars as Ted, a former high school nerd who suffered the most embarrassing night of his life when picking up his prom date Mary (Cameron Diaz). Years later, Ted takes the opportunity to reunite with Mary, only to learn she is the object of multiple men’s desires.
Worst: Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
Belonging to the long litany of unnecessary sequels is Dumb and Dumber To, a movie so bad it all but forced Bobby and Peter Farrelly to go their separate filmmaking ways immediately afterward.
The comedic stylings of Lloyd and Harry return 20 years after they last left off. This time, however, the two bumbling imbeciles head cross-country to locate Harry’s long-lost daughter, who he never knew existed. Although Carrey and Daniels to all they can to mine laughter, the humor was lost in the translation of five different screenwriters.
Best: Green Book (2018)
In his first solo feature film, Peter Farrelly won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay for his stellar work on Green Book.
The film tells the true story of Dr. Donald Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a sophisticated pianist who dealt with racism and prejudice while traveling through the American south during the 1960s with his uneducated white driver, Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen). The film currently ranks #127 on IMDB’s Top 250 Movies Of All-Time.
Worst: Movie 43 (2013)
As much credit as Peter Farrelly deserves for Green Book, he deserves an equal amount of blame for his participation in Movie 43, a movie he produced and partially directed without his brother Bobby.
The anthological comedy with segments directed by 11 various filmmakers was one of the worst-reviewed films of 2013. In addition to its 18/100 Metascore, the film currently holds a 4% Rotten Tomatoes rating to go with its 4.3/10 IMDB mark. For his part, Peter directed the segments “The Pitch,” “The Catch,” and “Truth or Dare.”
