THE Farrelly brothers have carved a Hollywood reputation for bad taste comedies with There's Something About Mary, Dumb & Dumber and Shallow Hal.

They deal with enough taboo subjects to have Mary Whitehouse spinning in her grave faster than a Dyson washing machine.

Basic bodily functions, mental illness and obesity have all come under the microscope.

But Stuck On You (12A) goes a step further by tackling physical disability. Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear are conjoined twins who run a popular diner in their hometown of Martha's Vineyard.

Joined at the hip since birth, the brothers have overcome prejudice to prove to themselves and to their friends that their physical affliction is no obstacle to fulfilling their dreams.

Damon is content to settle for a simple life in Martha's Vineyard but Kinnear wants more, and he persuades his brother to accompany him to Hollywood to pursue his goal of becoming a famous actor. Overnight, the pair become the toast of Hollywood. Kinnear milks the attention for all it's worth but Damon craves privacy.

Once so close, the brothers find themselves pulling in different directions, and they are compelled to consider a medical separation, knowing that Kinnear's chances of surviving the operation are, at best, 50-50.

By its very design, Stuck On You is a one-joke movie and the Farrellys mine every laugh and groan from the pair's physicality.The gag does wear thin and there aren't enough laugh-out-loud moments to compensate.

Damon and Kinnear are a ferociously likeable double-act, charging through every scene with boundless energy and enthusiasm.

They play the emotional scenes with the right amount of pathos, supported by Eva Mendes at her ditzy brunette best, and Cher who clearly relishes the chance to lampoon herself. The film is littered with cameos including Jack Nicholson, Griffin Dunne and Jay Leno.

Meryl Streep mercilessly pickpockets every one of her scenes as a blast from the brothers' past. Stuck On You finds the Farrellys wallowing in sentimentality and schmaltz, even more so than Shallow Hal.

This film reads like a love letter from one writer-director to the other, using the twins as their alter-egos to declare their admiration and love for one another.

By the closing credits, the mutual appreciation is so overwhelming, it's difficult to see the characters for the emotional syrup.

In American Splendour (15) hospital file clerk Harvey Pekar is a modern day comic book superhero.

He doesn't have any special powers to speak of, nor does he save the world, but hundreds upon thousands of loyal fans follow his exploits in the American Splendour comic book series, which began in 1976.

Over the years, the comic generated a steady and passionate following which elevated Harvey to cult status, reaching a pinnacle during the late '80s when he secured a regular guest slot on Late Night With David Letterman.

Fittingly, this ended in acrimony when Harvey launched into a vicious diatribe, live on air, against the company which financed the NBC television network.

He was dropped from the show soon after.

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's film chronicles Harvey's life from a young boy right up to the present day, focusing largely on his rise to notoriety during the '70s and '80s, and his meeting with ardent fan Joyce Braber, who would become his soul mate and third wife. The writer-directors use a dazzling mosaic of archive footage, interviews, dramatisations and animation to capture the spirit of the man.

Thus, the real Harvey narrates recreated scenes from his life (featuring Paul Giamatti as the morose hero), who occasionally engages in conversation with the cartoon version of Harvey. The real Joyce commentates on her fictionalised self (played by Hope Davis).

The effect is a film every bit as startling, surreal and mesmerising as the comic book series of the same name.

By Gary Lawrence