Review of Dumb and Dumber (1994) by Pete S — 20 Jan 2014

Dumb and Dumber can be seen as the springboard for several people. The Farelly brothers first feature launched them into the "IT" comedy team, and would follow the movie up with two more hits Kingpin and There's Something About Mary. Jim Carrey used this one and Ace Ventura to become the biggest comedian in Hollywood, making a Batman movie, The Cable Guy, and Liar, Liar. More importantly, it became a cultural phenomenon, becoming one of the most quotable movies in history. Dumb and Dumber's plot is pretty thin, but is MUCH more clever than people give it credit for.

By now, the story should be known to you. Dumb and Dumber focuses around 2 idiot roommates: Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunn (Jeff Daniels). Harry runs one of the worst dog grooming businesses out of his van, and Lloyd is a limo driver who has found out that the company freaks out when you leave the scene of an accident. Lloyd's last pickup is Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), who smites Lloyd right in the heart. Lloys fails to notice Mary is sad and worried: her husband has been kidnapped by Nicholas (Charles Rocket). For bribery, Mary deposits something in a suitcase, which she leaves in the airport to be picked up by two thugs (Mike Starr and Karen Duffy) who work for Nicholas. Lloyd, simply thinking she left the briefcase, grabs it before they do, but she gets onto the flight to Aspen before he can reach her. After failing to open the briefcase, Lloyd enlists Harry to help him drive the briefcase to Mary, hoping they will fall in love and be introduced into high society.

The cleverness of the screenplay is in making the criminals as dumb as Harry and Lloyd. Since they only view and observe the two dummies from a distance, their stupid actions are attempted to be pieced together by the thugs, only to deduce that Harry and Lloyd must be professionals. This makes any random joke written by the Farelly brothers hit twice as hard since the criminals stand in awe of these preposterous actions. Kudos to Matt Starr, Charles Rocket, and Karen Duffy for playing it straight through all the nonsense.

And what wonderful nonsense. Dumb & Dumber, for PG-13, pushes the humor pretty far and pretty dark. The gags are easily the highlight, the two best involving birds (an owl and a parakeet). There are quotes everywhere that can be reused ad nauseum: "Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?" "You got fired again huh? Oh yeah." Dumb and Dumber is meant for the low-brow in all of us: there is an extended hilarious sequence involving laxatives. The shaggin wagon always gets a smirk, and there is a nice nod to A Christmas Story fans. I have rarely laughed harder that when a playful brush of snow onto Harry yields him to hurl a snowball into the person's face (this scenes wisely shifts to Harry at the last second, so the audience can imagine what happened to the person who is hit). Heck, at some point we have all seen the blue and orange suits on a pair of friends for Halloween.

This movie would not succeed without Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Carrey was the sure thing here, and he delivers with all of his crazy mannerisms and noises. The montage scene would not be nearly as funny if it were anyone but Carrey. Daniels was mostly an action star before this dramatic shift into comedy; amazingly, he holds his own alongside Carrey and has a blast doing so. Lauren Holly gamely plays the love interest, getting the biggest laughs during the ski trip or in the limo. Of the other actors, only Matt Starr makes an impression; his reactions with Carrey and Daniels make their scenes together pop.

If Dumb and Dumber is not experienced before age 21, then it will not resonate as well. I was fortunate enough to watch it in my teens, which has forever tied Dumb and Dumber to the part of me that appreciates a swift kick to the babymaker region for laughs. It is the best example of what is captivating about Jim Carrey's physical humor, and a shining beacon that low-brow isn't always necessarily inferior humor.