By Geno McGahee
In 1994, comedic gold was created with the stupid comedy DUMB & DUMBER. Featuring the zany comedy of Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas and Jeff Daniels as Harry Dunne, the film became a classic and the idea of a sequel was spoken of immediately. In 2003, a shot at bringing the series back with DUMB & DUMBERER: WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD was released, but without Carrey and Daniels revising their roles, it crashed and burned.
Twenty years after DUMB & DUMBER, the original writers and cast have returned in DUMB AND DUMBER TO. Many things have changed from the last and most revolve around Jim Carrey. His star has dimmed at the box office and a return to a familiar character was the planned re-launch. It was questionable if they could recapture the magic that was found in the original. Much like Carrey, the Farrelly brothers have had their fair share of problems and stinkers.
The Farrelly brothers made great comedies like DUMB & DUMBER, KINGPIN and THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, but they also made nearly unwatchable, unfunny trash like ME, MYSELF AND IRENE, STUCK ON YOU and the dreadful THE THREE STOOGES disaster. With their track record of late, it was easy to imagine the new DUMB AND DUMBER being terrible, but they actually brought it back in a very good and funny way.
Lloyd (Carrey) has been in a home ever since the last one. The lights are on but nobody’s home. His friend, Harry (Daniels), has been visiting him weekly for the last twenty years. When Harry tells his friend that the visits are going to stop, Lloyd lets him know that the entire thing was a prank. With that, we have the two back together again and a new adventure.
Harry discovers that he has a daughter and when Lloyd sees her, he falls for her and hopes to strike up a romance. They meet up with Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner), the mother of the daughter, Penny (Rachel Melvin), and are sent on the reunion mission. Turner does a great job as Felcher.
Much like the original, there are some bad people looking to kill the duo, unknowingly to them, leading to some funny moments. They bring back some old characters and even kept their original apartment in the same condition. I was disappointed that we only got to see the shagging wagon for a few seconds on the screen. I would have loved to see it for the remainder of the film.
Penny is giving a speech at a big medical convention and all hell is going to break loose as the bad guys, Harry, Lloyd, and Penny meet up in a big showdown and reveal. The film wraps up really well and is remarkably satisfying for a sequel filmed this much after the original.
DUMB AND DUMBER TO has a lot of gags and many that don’t work. There is the gross out humor that many have pointed to as a problem with it, but most of it is quick. The true humor happens as Daniels and Carrey rekindle their chemistry and recapture the characters. I think that those that experienced the first one and have fond memories will have a great love for this one. It sort of reminded me of CLERKS 2. It wasn’t as good as the first, but it brings you back to the time, and considering how much time has passed, DUMB AND DUMBER TO made me look back to the time when I rented the film on VHS at the local video store.
The key to this film was Carrey and Daniels returning to form. Harry and Lloyd were back and when the movie was over, I wanted to see more. I laughed throughout most of it and even when things weren’t that funny, the effort by Daniels and Carrey made it so. I really liked DUMB AND DUMBER TO. It’s not as good as the first, but did anyone expect it to be?
Rating: 7.5/10 – Good to have them back.
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