Things I've learned from the Farrelly Brothers that they don't teach you in Film School

It is possible you've watched a Farrelly Brothers movie like Dumb and Dumber or There's Something About Mary, and maybe you've noticed that they are slightly different from other comedies. Or not. Either way, they are different.


Since I've started studying film production, my lecturers have basically told my classes the exact opposite of what the Farrelly's say in their interviews.

Of course I'm not saying that my lecturers are lying to me (They might be, who knows.), but I've noticed that they just have very different opinions when it comes to how to make a good film.

For example, in my screenplay class, we were told by our lecturer (Who in fact is a cinematographer.) that a good movie always has an arc; and if the characters are still the same at the end of the film, then it is most likely that no one will buy it.

I have to admit, if the movie weren't to be a comedy, then yes this would apply. But really, characters in comedies are usually to dumb to grow. Yes they might conquer whatever was in front of them, but mentally they're most likely the same.

...Ahem.....Zoolander.

The Farrelly's have the perfect example of this though, with Harry and Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber (2). Even after 20 years they are still idiots. But we love them. Or at least I do. In this interview, Peter and Bobby Farrelly discuss how their characters are still the same.

Another thing that I've learned from the Farrelly brothers is that if you want to have your characters do horrible things to each other, you need to make a point of showing them having some type of emotional scene or anything that shows them being kind. That way the audience will like them enough to keep watching them through whatever awful things they do throughout the rest of the movie.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly talk about this in a YouTube workshop type of thing (Sorry, I don't know what you would call it.), discussing these types of scenes in There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber.

Have you ever seen Wolf of Wall Street? (If you haven't, please don't. You will be scarred for life.) If you have seen it, maybe now you would notice that there is no establishing scene that helps you to like the main character who's played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Maybe the filmmakers though having him in the movie was enough, since he has a lot of fans. But I'm just speculating. Anyhow, I really did not like it, and neither did my friends. So in my opinion, the Farrelly's tip on making an important emotional scene must work.

The lecturers at my school haven't said anything about this. Yet.

But wait, there's more.

The final thing I've learned from watching the Farrelly's interviews is that they always write their films in such a way that you will have no idea how it is going to end until pretty much the very last minute.


And this my friends, is why I love Peter and Bobby Farrelly so much.

Don't you hate it when you're watching a movie or TV show and about halfway through, you realise what is going to happen at the end of it? A recent example of this is Get Hard (Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart). It is hilarious movie, but the problem with it is that you know exactly who framed James (Will Ferrell) from about less than halfway through the movie. It's just too obvious. But again, it is a good, funny movie. Watch it.

The Farrelly's seem to always talk about how much effort they put into writing their movies so that the audience won't know the 'winner' or outcome until the very last scene. I think that this is really important. If your audience already knows what will happen, then why would they want to keep watching?

Until Next Time....
Morgan ^^