Review of Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003) by Miranda J — 30 Dec 2009

After the release of Dumb and Dumber, audiences were begging for a sequel that never happened sadly. There was certainly talk of it though, especially with the inclusion of a third person, namely Chris Farley.

But thanks to Farley's death, the plans kinda fell through and after awhile, the thought of a sequel faded away and people eventually excepted it, save for greedy, dumbass film executives whose "never say never" mantra sometimes comes back to bite them in the arse.

The eventual output was a foolish, dimwitted prequel called Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, where are comedic duo, now comprised of Eric Christian Olsen (essaying Carrey's character) and Derek Richardson (playing Daniels' character) are brought together in a chance encounter during their new year of high school where they engage in several moronic shenanigans that pay homage plenty of times to the original, superior classic.

When the principal (Eugene Levy) and his lunch lady lover (Cheri O'Teri) scheme to take grant money for a special needs class, they quickly create one, using Harry and Lloyd as their pawns, who enroll other schoolmates that seem special (including Shia LaBeouf in an early role).

Some other familiar names show up, like Super-MILF Mimi Rogers (as Harry's mother), Luis Guzman (as Lloyd's father) and comedians Brian Posehn and Dana Gould in small, yet hilarious roles. Ok, no surprise, this movie is utterly pointless and not as good as the original.

Here's the surprise though, as a regular comedy, it's not that bad, especially considering the droves and droves of badly made comedies that come out every week. Here is a challenge to everyone: go back and re-watch this.

Forget about how bad it bastardizes a classic and just pay attention to this eccentric group of people who try to make it work. Though glorified imitators, Olsen and Richardson do a stand-up job of imitating their original predecessors.

Also, Posehn and Gould really are quite hilarious in their small, early roles. The film is the red-headed stepchild nobody wants to see, when in all actuality, it's not that bad. Appalling...yes, bad.

..no.