Good evening everyone! Yes, ok, so I am posting this a day LATER than I originally indicated. I sincerely apologize. So, this past Tuesday evening October 28th, I had the opportunity to take advantage of an offer to see a free advance screening for an upcoming November 2014 release. So, of course, I went for it! And therefore, without further ado, I present to you my review of Universal Pictures’ “Dumb & Dumber To”.
SEE THE TRAILER HERE
THANKFULLY seeing the return of the original film’s directors, Bobby & Peter Farrelly, (and putting that travesty of a 2003 prequel movie OUT of our minds), we get to re-enter the dumbed down world of Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) 20 years after the silly events in Aspen, Colorado. Of course, the story would start with a mother of all “GOTCHA’S!!” while Harry is visiting Lloyd in a mental institution! Once this is out of the way, the two goofs head back to their old neighborhood, running into an old “friend” while there, and establishing that Harry is dealing with a sudden medical condition that needs attention….and the only person who appears to be able to help is Harry’s supposed daughter, Penny (Rachel Melvin) whom they ultimately find out about thanks to a visit to an old, and familiar, “fling” tied to BOTH men, Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner). Traveling to the home of Penny’s adoptive parents, Dr. Pichlow (Steve Tom) and his wife Adele (Laurie Holden), the misfits end up in the middle of a deeper and more “sinister” scheme being perpetrated by Adele and the home’s “handyman”, Travis (Rob Riggle) that also involves a wrapped package Penny was supposed to reveal to the masses at a tech conference she is sent to by Dr. Pichlow, a supposed “world-altering” discovery. Looking to foil this plan and cash in, Adele sends Travis with the pair to the tech conference in Texas where Penny is supposed to deliver the speech and present the big reveal. The road trip turns into a massive fiasco and, of course, additional insanity/hijinks ensue along the way. Once arriving (amazingly) to the conference, it becomes a mish-mash of mistaken identity, hunting down Penny, uncovering Adele’s endgame, and other surprising revelations as we basically see what we already KNEW to be true….these two guys just CANNOT help but get into the craziest, goofiest, off-the-wall messes….and YET, manage to end up making things right!! And that actually covers the story, though, I STILL have followed my overall rule of “No Spoilers”, as plenty of ZANY details are left out of said review above. And that IS how it shall stay!
I mean, what else can I say. If you liked the first film with Carrey and Daniels, you will like this outing as well. Just saying it straight up. I continue to chuckle, heck, LAUGH as I write this, because there are SO MANY excellent moments of STUPID comedy the two provide that are just priceless IN their, well, DUMB-ness! And the review above doesn’t even scratch the SURFACE of the madness occurring DURING and IN BETWEEN all of the main points listed. The pratfalls, puns, plays on words, innuendos (subtle and NOT so subtle), physical humor, and zaniness are ALL present and in abundance here….and it is what makes the film absolutely HILARIOUS! I had not laughed that much overall in a film for a while. And because you already know WHAT to expect, it DOES make some of the antics Harry & Lloyd do STILL cause you to cringe or guffaw endlessly. I personally was glad the film ended up with a “PG-13” rating, because I don’t like the blatant crassness and vulgarity of most modern comedies, which usually end up with an “R”. Now, I STILL need to mention that there WERE still a FEW moments that honestly made me go “OH!! THAT is just WRONG!!” in a gross-out kind of way, but those are few and far between, as more often than not (as in the original film), the gags are meant for sheer ridiculousness. Carrey and Daniels work well as these two dimwits, and their comedic chemistry is undeniable. They deliver lines that are ABSURD with such dryness, and that IS what MAKES the material so funny, because the characters JUST don’t realize how idiotic their statements and actions are! Rachel Melvin, whom I was not familiar with prior to the film, was just PERFECTLY cast in playing silly, bubbly, yet surprisingly smart, ditz Penny, as the character more than lives up to her reputed lineage. Laurie Holden and Rob Riggle also worked well, especially Riggle’s character Travis, who has to endure some SERIOUS abuse at the hands of Harry and Lloyd. Really, Steve Tom’s Dr. Pichlow almost has the most straight-forward part in the whole shebang! And seeing veteran actress Kathleen Turner in this as Fraida….wow. So all in all, this film is just plain stupid, silly, zany, nutty, goofy FUN! Everything you want from Carrey & Daniels playing these guys again! Very worthy sequel and a solid excuse to simply GET DUMB!
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
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