Rated
PG-13 (Crude and Sexual Humor, Partial Nudity, Language and Some Drug References)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 50 Minutes
Cast-
Jim
Carrey-Lloyd Christmas
Jeff
Daniels-Harry Dunne
Kathleen
Turner-Fraida Felcher
Rachel
Melvin-Penny Pinchelow
Laurie
Holden-Adele Pinchelow
Rob
Riggle-Travis/Captain Lippincott
Steve
Tom-Dr. Pinchelow
Tembi
Locke-Dr. Walcott
Don
Lake-Dr. Meldmann
Brady
Bluhm-Billy
Directed
by Peter and Bobby Farrelly
Note: Screened on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at AMC Loews 34th Street 14..
 |
| Harry and Lloyd are back in "Dumb and Dumber To," but they've been turned into complete dicks by the writers. |
'Kick
his ass, Sea Bass!' "Dumb and Dumber" is one of the stupidest movies
I've ever seen. It's also one of the funniest comedies of the last twenty years.
Marking the directorial debuts of Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the film was released
back in 1994, which was a banner year for Jim Carrey. Following the box office
successes of "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "The Mask," "Dumb
and Dumber" capped off a fantastic year for the "In Living Color"
veteran and grossed over $247.3 million worldwide ($397.2 million when adjusted
for inflation) on a $17 million production budget! Despite its mixed reception amongst
critics (65% on Rotten Tomatoes), the film quickly became a cult classic and you'll
be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't seen it nowadays. Its popularity spawned
a short-lived animated series from Hanna-Barbera in 1995 and an absolutely dreadful
prequel—"Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd"—in 2003. Carrey,
co-star Jeff Daniels, and the Farrelly Brothers were fortunately not involved.
Of course, fans kept clamoring for an official sequel, even though it didn't
seem likely given Carrey's distaste for them following the critical drubbing he
received for 1995's "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." Well, a lot can
change in two decades. Daniels is currently starring in the third and final season
of Aaron Sorkin's critically-acclaimed HBO series "The Newsroom" but Carrey
and the Farrelly Brothers have been stuck in a career slump in recent years. Hoping
to make lightning strike twice, we finally have "Dumb and Dumber To,"
the long-awaited follow-up to the 1994 hit. While I knew it wasn't going to top
the original, I was still excited to see what new misadventures Harry and Lloyd
would get up to. I really wanted to like "Dumb and Dumber To" but
there's no use mincing words here: it's a disappointment. The endearing stupidity
and charming innocence of the first film has been replaced with a creepy, mean-spirited
attitude.
Ever
since his ill-fated road trip to Aspen, Colorado, Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) has
been trapped in a seemingly catatonic state for the past twenty years. His best
friend Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) has dutifully visited and taken care of his
every need on a weekly basis but when Lloyd is suddenly roused from his stupor,
he reveals that it's all been an elaborate prank. Finally reunited, the two dimwitted
pals return to their old apartment, where Harry explains that he's in desperate
need of a kidney transplant. While visiting his parents with Lloyd, he learns
that a fling he had with Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner) back in 1991 has resulted
in a pregnancy. After tracking down Fraida to her family-owned funeral parlor,
the duo discover that she gave her daughter up for adoption. Now bearing the name
of Penny Pinchelow (Rachel Melvin), Lloyd immediately becomes smitten with her upon
seeing her photo. Driving down to Maryland, the two manage to locate the Pinchelow
residence. However, her adopted father (Steve Tom) tells them that he sent her
to El Paso, Texas for the KEN Conference. Unfortunately, she left behind an important
package. Harry and Lloyd agree to take it to her but Penny's gold-digging adopted
mother Adele (Laurie Holden) and her secret lover Travis (Rob Riggle) want to
swipe the package as it contains an invention that is worth billions of dollars.
 |
| There are laughs but they're few and far between in this long-awaited sequel. |
'Would
you like an atomic pepper, Mr. Mentalino?' One of my favorite scenes in "Dumb
and Dumber" is when Harry and Lloyd are at a roadside diner and are double-dared
into eating super-hot 'atomic' peppers by Mike Starr's Joe 'Mental' Mentalino, a
hired thug posing as a hitchhiker. Of course, the two nitwits can't handle the
heat and start choking loudly, forcing them to spray copious amounts of ketchup
and mustard into their mouths. Mental goes outside while this happens, calling up
his boss and assuring him that his new travel companions won't make it to Aspen
alive. Hoping to get even with Mental, Harry and Lloyd dump a bunch of atomic peppers
into the thug's burger when his back is turned. Now the guy doesn't immediately
eat the burger when he returns to the table as the Farrelly Brothers want to build
up to that moment. It's not enough for the joke to be funny; it needs to be
well-timed as well. Once Mental takes that first bite and the peppers kick in,
that's when the punchline arrives! For those of you who've seen the film, you know
what happens next: Mental's stomach ulcer flares up and when the duo gives him
his medication, they accidentally give him rat poison, the same rat poison the thug
was going to kill them with! This hilarious scene illustrates two things. One: the
Farrelly Brothers know how to execute a joke for maximum laughs, even one as predictable
as someone unknowingly eating hot peppers, and two: although their actions lead
to the death of Mental, you don't blame Harry and Lloyd because they had no malicious
intent; they're essentially children trapped in adult bodies. These two
elements are nowhere to be found in the sequel. Not only are the laughs few and
far between in "Dumb and Dumber To," the characters—especially Lloyd—have
been turned from dunces into total dicks.
A.A.
Dowd from A.V. Club perfectly sums up the film in his own review: 'Dumb and Dumber To is crueler, crasser, grosser,
lazier, creepier, and, yes, dumber than the [original].' Over the course of its
overlong two-hour running time, Lloyd mocks and belittles a Chinese family for
speaking a different language, tells another family that he was basically responsible
for their son's death and laughs about it in front of them, makes fun of a female
doctor solely because she is female, and shouts at a woman on stage to 'show
her tits.' The last two is particularly damning considering the rampant misogyny
and sexism that women have experienced recently on the internet. I haven't even
touched on how creepy it is to watch a man in his early fifties lust after a
woman who's twenty years his junior. The film tries to laugh it off but Lloyd
is a sexual predator here, not a guy with a schoolboy crush like in the original
pic. Although I spent an entire paragraph summarizing the sequel's plot, it essentially
boils down to being a carbon-copy of its predecessor and the only surprising
thing about it is the fact that it took six writers—including the Farrelly
Brothers—to come up with it. Yes, "Dumb and Dumber To" required six people
to write a story that is literally the exact same as the original. This means
that there a lot of callbacks and references to the first film (Billy the Blind
Kid, the Mutt Cutts van) but all it does is remind you how much funnier the 1994
hit was. There are some inspired
gags, particularly one involving Harry and Lloyd's confusion over a return
address and another where the two talk about farts. A scene where Harry is invited
to judge a young inventors' competition at the KEN Conference is pretty funny
as well. However, I can count on one hand the amount of times I laughed. Not only
have the directors lost their comedic touch, they've also completely forgotten
what made "Dumb and Dumber" so popular in the first place.
 |
| Nobody found it creepy that a subplot involves a man in his fifties lusting after a woman twenty years his junior? Nobody?! |
Donning
Lloyd's famous bowl haircut once more, Jim Carrey's comedic prowess is still in
tip-top shape as he wildly bounces from scene to scene but he tries too hard
here with his constant mugging in front of the camera. It doesn't help that his
character has been turned into a complete jerk by the writers. Jeff Daniels fares
much better, effortlessly sliding back into his old role as Harry and delivering
an enthusiastic performance. While Kathleen Turner is unfortunately made the butt
of too many 'old lady' jokes, it's mitigated by her amusingly blasé turn as
former flame Fraida Felcher. Rachel Melvin is surprisingly charming, delightful,
and dare I say, adorable, as Harry's long-lost daughter Penny Pinchelow, who's also
dumb as a rock. I actually wouldn't mind a future "Dumb and Dumber"
film focusing on Melvin's character. Rounding out the cast is Laurie Holden
(who previously starred with Carrey in 2001's "The Majestic") as Penny's
gold-digging adopted mother Adele and Rob Riggle in a dual role as Travis and his
twin brother, the chameleon-like marine Captain Lippincott. There are also a
couple of cameos, such as Bill Murray (I'm not going to spoil the scene he
appears in but you can Google it if you must know) and inexplicably June
Shannon, aka Mama June. I have to ask what possessed the Farrelly Brothers to
include her. Hell, even TLC has cut ties with her and her family, and for good
reason!
Released
on November 14, 2014, "Dumb and Dumber To" has received largely
negative reviews with 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that the film 'does
have its moments, but not enough of them—and the Farrelly Brothers' brand of
humor is nowhere near as refreshingly transgressive as it once seemed.' It's
still poised to do big business at the domestic box office this weekend despite
the unfavorable critical reception, with the long-awaited sequel currently
tracking for a $36 million debut. That's actually quite impressive considering
the first film opened with only $16.4 million and is a testament to its
continued popularity. Fans have been clamoring for a sequel for twenty years
and now that one has arrived, I'm betting a lot of those fans wish they hadn't.
Largely bereft of laughs, "Dumb and Dumber To" exists solely to cash
in on the nostalgia of moviegoers, sullying the name of the original. Just pop
a DVD or Blu-Ray copy of "Dumb and Dumber" and forget this one
exists, like that horrible prequel.
Final
Rating: 2 out of 5 (My love of the original kept the score from falling lower)
"Want
to hear the second most annoying sound in the world?"
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