Director: The Farrelly Brothers
Stars: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Rob Riggle, Laurie Holden, Rachel Melvin, Steve Tom, Don Lake, Kathleen Turner
20 years after the original film, Harry and Lloyd are back in Dumb and Dumber To. Lloyd has been a vegetable for twenty years, but when Harry reveals that he needs a new kidney and won’t be able to visit anymore, Lloyd owns up to the prank. After finding out that Harry has a daughter, Penny (Melvin), the two men go across the country to find one, one in search of a kidney, the other in search of love. However, they are also carrying a prized invention from Penny’s father, a noted scientist, but greedy forces are working to eliminate Harry and Lloyd and capture the package for themselves.
Dumb and Dumber is one of my favorite films of all time. It still makes me laugh after all these years so when they announced a sequel was being made I was initially excited. Then the reviews started coming out and most of them were mixed and mediocre, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when I saw it. A lot of the complaints revolve around the fact that it feels like a retread of the first film, and I do agree to a certain extent but there are some cute callbacks to the first film and it doesn’t simply feel like they’re rehashing all the jokes, it’s more of a homage really.
I know people get caught up in all the endless remakes and sequels but with this film I feel they got it right. Carrey and Daniels obviously came back to this because they wanted to and not just for a cash grab, and the heart comes through. I do think that perhaps they characters are more mean-spirited than in the original but they still feel like Harry and Lloyd. I found myself laughing a lot more than I expected, and not mere chuckles either.
Turner is a good addition as the legendary Frieda Felcher, and Melvin is chirpy as Penny. Hold and Riggle are menacing as the antagonists but really this is another chance to revisit Harry and Lloyd, and for that it works perfectly. Some of the jokes are hit-and-miss, especially some lazy racial stereotyping towards the beginning, and it doesn’t quite capture the same sparkle as the first film, but I don’t think anyone really expected it to be as good as the original. It could have been much, much worse. I don’t think I’ll revisit this one as often as the original but it’s certainly one I had a good time watching and it made me laugh. A lot.
If you’re on the fence after the other average reviews that weren’t too impressed with the film I’d suggest you cast your doubts aside and give it a chance, it’s definitely worth checking out, and I think if you enjoy the first film you’ll enjoy this one too. I kinda like the fact they stuck to what worked from the first film and tweaked a few things rather than changing too much.
