1994 was a hell of a year for Jim Carrey. In the span of 12
months the, then, relatively unknown actor released 3 $100 million dollar films
with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber. Time would prove Dumb and Dumber to be the most memorable and re-watchable film of
the group. I’m struggling to think of a single scene that didn’t contain a
quotable line. Fun fact, most of that was improvised by Carrey on set including
my favorite, “We LANDED ON THE MOON!”. Twenty years and one horrible prequel
later we have this weekend’s Dumb and Dumber
To. This could have gone one of two ways, hilarious or dreadful, there was
no middle ground. Thank the comedy Gods, Harry and Lloyd came back with a BANG!
Twenty years after having his heart broken by Mary Samsonite (I’m still amazed
by how well the throwback jokes worked) Lloyd is in a nursing home, having been
there since the events of the last film. Harry (Jeff Daniels) has dutifully
visited his buddy every day since. On the visit that starts the film we find
out the Harry will no longer be visiting Lloyd as he has a medical condition
that requires a kidney transplant, at which point Lloyd yells “GOTCHA!”…yup, he’s
been faking a catatonic state for 20 years just to prank his buddy. The guys
get right back to their old tricks and head out to find Harry a family member
to donate a kidney. Their first stop is Harry’s parents where he finds out that
his two Asian parents are not his biological parents and that he was adopted.
Lucky for him they give him a 22 year old post card from Ms. French Tickler
herself, Freida Felcher, saying that she’s pregnant. That’s where the road trip
starts to find Harry’s illegitimate daughter. 
I honestly gave this film 0 chance of being good. I just
KNEW that I was going to be let down and have to tell all of you that our
favorite idiots should have been left in the 90’s. Boy was I wrong. The movie
is downright hilarious giving more laughs per minute than I’ve witnessed in at
least a year. Obviously the laughs come from a lot of off-color and bathroom
brand humor, so if that’s not your thing then you probably won’t have the same experience
as I had, but if you liked the first this one will be right up your alley. Jim
Carrey and Jeff Daniels pick right up with Harry and Lloyd as if there hadn’t
been a 20 year break in between, other than the aging you’d think this sequel
was filmed before the guys had a chance to get out of character. Every bit of
the chemistry we saw before is there and in full swing. I could stop right
there since everything else is inconsequential, side characters, plot,
direction, these things could be lacking as long as Harry and Lloyd are on point.
While you could definitely make an argument about the plot lacking (honestly…if
you’re arguing plot you’ve already decided this movie isn’t for you) the side
characters were surprisingly fun. Kathleen “I can’t believe I used to have a
thing for her” Turner brings Freida Felcher out of her mysterious shroud and
right into your face. Rob Riggle, who plays the villain (or is that villains),
does exactly what Rob Riggle was made to do, play a supporting role that brings
laughs from unexpected places…though I think his role was a bit more
understated than usual as far as comedic content goes. The real stand-out among
the new players had to be the adorable Rachel Melvin who plays Penny, Harry’s
daughter and the end point of the plot. Her role, a pretty girl who is just as
comically dumb as the leads, could have easily been immediately annoying had
another actress taken it on. Melvin delivers the idiotic Penny to us in a way
that is side-splittingly cute, like a puppy running full speed into a screen
door. As a small aside to what the movie did right the throwbacks to the first
film are done in such a way that feels organic, the way you may re-tell old
jokes when hanging out with friends from your youth, as opposed to being in
your face “Hey! Remember this!” moments. Honestly, that one aspect was one of
the biggest accomplishments of the movie, I would have put money on them
reusing all the old stuff and it just not working. 
While I don’t really have anything bad to say about the
film, at least not anything that should dissuade you from seeing it, there were
a few things that I can’t put in the positive column. The first is just more of
a depressing note and that’s how old the guys look, really more Carey then
Daniel’s. Is that a critical assessment of the movie? No, but it is one of
those realization moments when you look at yourself and say, “Damn…times they
have a changed”. The second, also not a critical assessment, is that the film
just doesn’t feel as iconic as the first. I probably laughed just as much and
just as hard, but there weren’t many, if any, lines or scenes in which I
thought “Yup, kids will be quoting that for years”. While I know audiences will
have a great time with it, I don’t think there will be any of the cultural (or
is that lack of cultural) impact of the first.
In a world where we are constantly disappointed by our fond
memories coming back to life in ways far removed from what we remember I’m glad
to say that Dumb and Dumber To does
not disappoint. If you were even a casual fan of the first film you owe it to
yourself to spend a quick 90 minutes with Harry and Lloyd. The only regret you’ll
have will be the cramps you get from laughing so hard.
Comedy Score: 4 out of 5 Guttenbergs
Film Score: 3 out of 5 Guttenbergs
