Dumb And Dumber To
It’s Christ-massssss!
Comedy’s all about timing,” says Jim Carrey’s goofball Lloyd Christmas. If that’s the case, the Farrelly brothers’ sequel to their 1994 slapstick debut Dumb And Dumber looks to have miscalculated by a few years, with a reunion that might’ve felt fresher when Carrey and the Farrellys were in their pomp.
So why the delay? Turns out Lloyd has been pretending to be catatonic in a psychiatric clinic for the past two decades, playing an epic prank on his old pal Harry Dunne ( Jeff Daniels), who has been loyally changing his poop-filled nappies every week. Yet when Harry arrives to tell him he needs a kidney transplant, Lloyd comes to and they go in search of a donor.
Soon enough, they have a candidate: Penny (Rachel Melvin), a daughter Harry never knew about, courtesy of Kathleen Turner’s Fraida Felcher, a “titanic whore” who gave her offspring up for adoption. Cue another cross-country jaunt, as Harry and Lloyd head to El Paso (in a hearse, natch), so she can meet her “biographical father”.
The gags are pelted ferociously by the Farrellys, a relentless onslaught of crude puns and sick-trigger sight gags. Some hit. Most miss. Highlights this time around include a cat getting high on crystal meth and a game of Funnel Nuts. And when all else fails, there’s always a fart to be dropped.
There’s a plot too, involving Penny’s scheming stepmom (Laurie Holden); though like the money-filled briefcase in the original, it’s just there to allow Carrey and Daniels to gurn and goof off. Though a notch above the Farrellys’ recent misfire The Three Stooges, DADT’s playground humour feels woefully stale in the Apatow era. Lamentable and lame.
THE VERDICT Disappointingly limp, with precious few belly laughs, despite a try-hard attitude. › Certificate 15 Directors Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly Starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Kathleen Turner, Laurie Holden, Rob Riggle, Rachel Melvin Screenplay Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly Distributor Universal Running time 109 mins