1999 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards

"The funniest part of this tragically UNfunny embarrassment comes during the end credits. It is there that writer/star Vince Offer thanks the creators of There's Something About Mary for stealing elements of this film to make theirs. He claims he sent them a promotional videotape copy of Underground in 1997 and they pilfered his jokes and made untold fortunes. The movie poster even claims that a "lawsuit is pending." Hmmm. After viewing both Offer's The Underground Comedy Movie and the Farrelly Brothers' There's Something About Mary, we learn that there are indeed some things the films have in common: 1. They are both shot on 35mm film, 2. They are both in English, 3. They are both in color, and 4. They both have stereo soundtracks. I could go on ... Both films show people driving in automobiles, both films have daytime AND nighttime scenes, and the opening and closing credits of both films feature lettering in both upper and lowercase white lettering. Yes, the similarities are eerie, aren't they? Other than those things, there is not one frame of Underground that bares even the slightest resemblance to Mary. If this frivolous lawsuit ever goes to trial, Offer and company better hope I'm not on the jury. If there is to be a lawsuit, it should really be directed at Offer, who has stolen (in some cases, word for word/scene for scene) elements of such 70s and 80s low-brow comedies as Kentucky Fried Movie, Groove Tube, and Amazon Women on the Moon and turned them into a frighteningly unfunny mix of scenes that confuse rather than amuse. It may be marketing genius to claim someone stole your film ideas just to get people to pay $8 to see what all the fuss is about, but in the case of The Underground Comedy Movie, I think the Farrelly Brothers and 20th Century Fox may have grounds to sue Offer for huge damages just for being compared to such a horribly made film as the inept Underground Comedy Movie."

—Michael Lancaster, The Hastings Bad Cinema Society[4]