I wonder if the younger generations (I’m 41) know anything about one of the most popular comedies of the nineties, Dumb and Dumber. I kept coming back to this movie for the last thirty years. And, apart from my science fiction classics, is one of my favorites. However, a movie I do not watch regularly and, in fact, have watched just twice is the movie we’re going to be talking about today. But before we do, we must mention the dumpster fire that is Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. Without the Farrelly brothers’ involvement it’s simply a bad prequel you should disregard completely.
Dumb and Dumber To is a decent comedy worth watching. It’s not as hilarious as the first part but it still offers a couple of awesome scenes. So, if you’re looking for a bit of laughs with familiar characters, it’s going to do just fine. However, if you’re looking for a coherent, relatable, and emotional story, you’ll hardly find it here. Additionally, it feels kind of sad to watch both Harry and Lloyd as 50-somethings bumbling their way through life. At least, Jim and Jeff are back along with Farrelly Bros. In this adventure, our gruesome twosome will be on a quest to find Harry’s long-lost daughter.
In the past few years, I started to focus more on sequels of the great movies. They’re oftentimes too hastily dismissed despite offering decent entertainment value. Dumb and Dumber To begs you not to take it too seriously. Not to overly analyze it but just ingest it once or twice and that’s it. This is surely no masterpiece but it will do just fine on a murky Thursday evening when you’re looking for some cheap entertainment. Apart from Jim and Jeff, I would also like to mention Rob Riggle who was simply hilarious. We’ll also get the chance to see Laurie Holden from the original, Kathleen Turner and Bill Murray who plays Harry’s roommate Icepick.
The pacing is quite fast and the running time is standard ninety minutes, making Dumb and Dumber To quite an easy watch. Despite the $50 million the cinematography isn’t the greatest. And the same goes for the sets. I don’t know if this has something to do with the 1MDB scandal. To sum it up for you, the movie was produced with stolen money and there were further reports of racketeering. And yet, this has nothing to do with the core issues this movie has. And that’s writing. While some of the jokes worked really well, others felt extremely forced and cringe.
The main characters of Harry and Lloyd feel like exaggerated versions of themselves. No less than six writers worked on the script, so it’s not surprising that this is the end result. After all of this, I must add that I still liked the movie. I don’t know if this is nostalgia or what but every scene with these two knuckleheads had a positive vibe about it. The only question was what are they going to do with that vibe? Finally, I’m going to say something I haven’t said in a long time. I think that this movie would be better if it was done by someone other than the Farrelly Bros.
There, I’ve said it. This has nothing to do with their talent or ability, I just think that the movie needed a change of perspective. That’s it. Here, we seem to be stuck in the past, repurposing old jokes just to get a bit of emotion. If you’re wondering about the next addition to the franchise, this movie eludes to a release date somewhere in 2034. Of course, this is a joke, since it took them 20 years to make this sequel. As it stands, Dumb and Dumber For is still far from pre-production but it would appear that everybody is willing to do it. So, all we have to do is wait.
Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Writer: Sean Anders, John Morris, Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Bennett Yellin, Mike Cerrone
Cast: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Rob Riggle, Laurie Holden, Kathleen Turner, Bill Murray
Fun Facts: The only movie, apart from Ace Ventura, where Jim Carrey reprises his role.
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IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096672/
