Review of Dumb and Dumber (1994) by Liam C — 25 Nov 2014

It's really quite sad that one of the funniest jokes the movie has on offer is the opening credits. Dumb and Dumber really comes across like one of those movies that is a product of its time and wouldn't have been anywhere near as fondly remembered if it was released any other time.

I really didn't find much to laugh at in this movie at all. Any time something quite funny happened, like a character's reaction to something, or Harry throwing the salt, the movie would go and ruin it a few seconds later with some weak gag, shock value humor. It seemed like a pattern, any time I didn't just go 'heh' and actually laughed at something that happened, moments later they'd ruin it with some really poor gag humor. Some of the scenes were also edited weird, someone would tell a joke and it would cut to another scene almost instantly without letting the joke settle or even register properly. There is also a really pointless dream sequence about midway through the movie and I contemplated skipping it quite a few times because it just kept going on.

What saves this movie from being a total failure is the charm of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. I know it's a comedy and I should rate it based on how much it made me laugh but after awhile of not laughing I just followed their story and see what'd they do next. They're so earnest, innocent and lovable that they'll win over even the biggest of cynics and they weren't as dumb as I thought they'd be, sure, they are dumb but not the level I was anticipating. I also like the reference jokes about other movies as they still work even if you haven't seen the movie they are referencing which is a really nice touch. I do appreciate that the movie does keep a very consistent tone throughout and doesn't stop telling jokes half way through, most comedy movies like this tend to run out of material about half way through and struggle through the second act to the finish and doing that does make the runtime bearable. Being almost 2 hours is pushing it, it should have been 90 minutes max, while I can't think of any scene to take out in what is a quite creative story, it was too long for its own good. I liked the ending too, the comedy is there from start to end and never it forgets what it is.

Even though I didn't find myself laughing on a consistent basis, it has its moments and I never hated my time watching it. It's a harmless, goofball of a movie that never tries to be anything that it is not and has a pair of really lovable goofs in the lead. It's cute and it has a lot of charm that makes it aggressively watchable, it has its devoted fanbase and a lot more love it than not. I just wish that the really bad gag humor was taken out, but this is a Farrelly brothers movie so I guess that's to be expected, even if I don't particularly care for it.