Dumb and Dumber To. Directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. Starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Rating: 4 (out of 10)
In the same week that Johns Hopkins announced that there is a virus that makes people stupider, Dumb and Dumber To (no, not a typo) lands in theatres.
In it, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprise their roles as Lloyd and Harry, two of the dullest minds Rhode Island has to offer.
The Farrelly brothers are back too, essentially churning out the same film but with different locales. And why not? The 1994 film netted over $247 million and attained cult status. And let's face it, the Farrelly Brothers haven't felt love from critics since There's Something About Mary a few years later.
But a lot has changed since Clinton's first term in office. Reality TV, for one. The poop scene with Daniels in the first DD is tame compared to Honey Boo Boo bobbing for hot dogs in eggnog, anchorman Harry Smith's televised colonoscopy, or contestants eating rats that were mixed in a blender. The frequent butthole references in this film seem almost quaint.
Lloyd (Carrey) has spent the past 20 years catatonic, sporting a catheter and colostomy bag, all as a prank to buddy Harry (Daniels). Harry, still the straight-man badly in need of conditioner, finds out he's the father to a 20-something girl. Handy, because Harry needs a kidney, and she might just be a match. (Lloyd is horny, and she might just be the one.)
Fire up the Mutt Cutts van and cue the crosscountry road trip. But first the boys have to get through Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner), the key to finding Penny (Rachel Melvin), who may or may not be Harry's daughter. Complicating things are the evil twins played by Rob Riggle, who want the boys dead.
But as with the first film, plot is irrelevant; it's all about seeing how many gags and one-liners hit the mark.
Here's the trouble: Jeff Daniels is a year shy of 60; Carrey is a grandfather in real life. Who wants to watch old guys pour slushies down their pants? Certainly not teenagers, raised on The Hangover and Jump Street films. This is a film crafted for the nostalgia factor that will appeal solely to fans of the original, who can still be heard quoting Dumb and Dumber at office parties from time to time.
If fans don't mind a carbon copy, the first two-thirds of the film is adequate. For my money, the best part is when Rob Riggle emerges from being camouflaged against a vending machine. The worst part is when Harry and Lloyd finally meet Penny: the payoff isn't that great, the character isn't particularly funny and Melvin (a Days of Our Lives veteran) seems out of her depth.
The chemistry between Daniels and Carrey still works, even when the gags don't, and both actors prove that they're not too old for the slapstick physicality the film demands. But the Farrelly brothers just can't capture the earnest, low-brow novelty of the first film, no matter how hard Carrey mugs for the camera.
