Dumb and Dumber

In terms of film comedians in 1994 and 1995, Jim Carrey was king. He was a Pet Detective twice, a superhero, a comic book villain and an idiot. This is a review of the latter film role. The success of "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" at the start of '94 spilled over, providing success to the other films mentioned and "Dumb and Dumber" is no exception. Being a Jim Carrey fan, I am ashamed to admit that I didn't see this movie in its entirety until 20 years after its release on the occasion of the arrival of the long-awaited sequel. As with most reviews that I post for this actor's films, "Dumb and Dumber" has too many funny moments to mention all of them. Too bad the film also has too many crude jokes

Just in case this needs pointing out, Harry is "Dumb" and Lloyd is "Dumber". This provides comedy alone because if both characters had the same intelligence, it would eliminate some of their shenanigans. It is important however that both characters are stupid. From a visual standpoint, Lloyd and Harry look like Moe and Larry from the Three Stooges. The characters are also named after the silent movie comedian, Harold Lloyd. The film's story is just as nonsensical as the two main characters but that is on purpose. It is kind of funny to start the show with two nobodies who don't have a back-story. The story concept of a road trip is always appealing in a film like this. I did not expect Sea Bass to show up in that bathroom stall by the way. Jim Carrey in my opinion provides more comedy than Jeff Daniels. Carrey has his "rubber face" and comedic timing to rely upon. My favorite moments of his include "Tic Tac sir?", the fact he has extra gloves and his fun dream sequence. The most annoying sound in the world has become one of the most beloved improvised film moments. Daniels' reaction is apparently genuine. Another reason why "Dumb and Dumber" works is the chemistry between Carrey and Daniels. I love the scene when they are trying to figure out Mary's last name as well as when Lloyd is trying to read the newspaper. Daniels has his moments too such as the line "...and totally redeem yourself." Only these two characters can turn a quote from "Hannibal" into innuendo. Fun fact: Carrey and Anthony Hopkins met once and discovered that they took the same approach in performing Ace Ventura and Hannibal respectively by basing their characters on animals. Another great plot point that always works in a comedy is suddenly coming upon millions of dollars and once that briefcase was opened, for me, that is when this movie got good. I can tell that the gala was designed so that Harry and Lloyd's suits would stand out completely from everyone else's attire. This makes the gag better. The whole movie is not all laughs though. The silly crush that both Harry and Lloyd develop for Mary is quite sweet in nature. Too bad their both guys are pretty sick. When Mary tries to let Lloyd down easy and Lloyd doesn't get it, I could see that coming but I did love the subsequent line, "What was all that 'one-in-a-million' talk?" That made me laugh. The end scene is even funnier when you know the behind-the-scenes story. The plan was to shoot an alternate ending where Harry and Lloyd get on the bus but Carrey wouldn't stand for that ending. He insisted that his character would NOT get on that bus and wouldn't shoot the scene. That really adds to the ending.

Jim Carrey really has a chipped tooth and did not use the cap in this movie so as to make Lloyd look even more like an oddball. He married co-star Lauren Holly, who plays Mary, after shooting the film but the marriage lasted only a year. I like how in 1994, Jeff Daniels played a character also named Harry in "Speed". That was the first movie I saw him in. I haven't seen much of Jeff Daniels' comedic ability though until this show. I love how Sea Bass is played by Hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely. "Dumb and Dumber" started the careers of the Farrelly brothers, who wrote and directed this show. They later did "Me, Myself and Irene" with Carrey. Speaking of him, Jim Carrey almost received screenwriting credit for this movie just like on "Ace Ventura" because of his improvisation (he also made up the man on the moon moment). When "Dumb and Dumber" became the highest grossing film in its opening week at the box office, it made Jim Carrey the first actor ever to have three films go straight to number one in one year. This film is funny but it might be funnier the next time I see it. I would have rated this show higher if not for the coarse humor. The success of this movie spawned a prequel nearly ten years later but that did not star Carrey or Daniels. Twenty years after the first "Dumb and Dumber" however, we saw a return of the real Harry and Lloyd and it was so worth it.

3.5 Stars