Dylan Haviland – General Assignment Reporter
Twenty years ago, theaters were blessed with directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s comedy magna opus ‘Dumb and Dumber.’
Its release in 1994 was surrounded by excellent comedies such as ‘Clerks’ and ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’ that let people forget about some of the smaller things in life.
The film starred Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, two prominent actors during the 90s and to this day. Carrey at the time was establishing his name as a comedy legend, while Jeff Daniels held an esteemed career in drama and action.
With ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ being two decades in the making one would assume that the directors would have fresh material to throw at the audience. Especially in the circumstances where the film is graced with its two original stars, Carrey and Daniels.
Unfortunately, in modern cinema where sequels come cheap and comedy lacks the cultural power it once posed, ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ fails to deliver what many hopeful fans looked forward to.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGXHVlEklgQ]
The film begins when Harry Dunne, played by Daniels visits Lloyd Christmas, Carrey who has been spending the past 20 years inside a mental hospital due to failure to capture the girl of his dreams. To Harry’s surprise though Lloyd has been faking his prolonged illness as the ultimate prank towards his friend, soon the two brainless buddies are reunited and out to the real world.
After spending a short time back at home, Harry and Lloyd are thrown into another quest across
America. The pair’s objective this time around is to find Harry a replacement for his failing kidney, which just so happens to be his daughter he just found out he had.
The issue with ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ is that the film had so much potential, primarily with Carrey and Daniel’s excellent film chemistry. In the first ‘Dumb and Dumber’ the two naturally played off each other’s gags, coming across as genuine buddies that do not have a clue in the world.
‘Dumb and Dumber To’ squanders these gifts and dumbs down their relationship miserably. Harry and Lloyd are so “dumb” in the film that it takes away any of the real interactions they had. The intent the Farrelly’s comedy is to keep it silly and fun but it feels rather impersonal. While in fact the movie is goofier, it is done so in an unappealing way. The films few laughable moments are gags strongly representative of the first title. Carrey in particular tries to instate some new running gags throughout the film but they fail to catch on.
The rest of the humor thrown into the film is too juvenile and relies lowly on gross out tactics in an uncomfortable way.
The highly praised actress Emma Stone makes an appearance in the movie as Harry’s unknown daughter. Her performance unfortunately still leaves the film lacking as her character possess the same level of intelligence as the two protagonists. The concept of Harry’s daughter being as aloof as he sounds good in theory, but how Stone handles the role leaves something lacking. Even though Harry and Lloyd aren’t on their top game, they perform the “dumb” role better than other actors.
‘Dumb and Dumber To’ stands as a hollow reminder for films that should be left alone. The failed attempt to build off the plot from the last one has left a tarnished finale on the beloved first film which made Harry and Lloyd household names.
