Release Date: June 13, 2003
Starring: Eric Christian Olsen, Derek Richardson, Eugene Levy, Luis Guzmán, Cheri Oteri, Mimi Rogers
Directed by: Troy Miller
Written by: Robert Brenner, Troy Miller
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (crude and sex-related humor, language)
Belive it or not, it’s perfectly fine to make a completely mornonic and pointless film. The shocking thing behind it, though, is that even movies that purposely lack intelligence still require a substantial amount of effort from those who make them in order for them to be enjoyable. Dumb and Dumberer, the prequel to the Farrelly brothers’ 1994 screwball comedy Dumb and Dumber, is the definition of a mindless movie but its lazy and careless stupidity makes it exactly what moviegoers don’t want -- an utterly painful waste of 90 minutes.
The mere concept of this movie is unfathomable, despite the fact that its predecessor was a blockbuster nearly a decade before. The secret to that movie’s success was simple: two hilarious stars (Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey) and a pair of wirter-directors (Peter and Bobby Farrelly) took advantage of each other’s comedic talents, and they made a movie so popular that it’s still quoted today by movie fans enamored with idiots on the screen. A sequel, therefore, wouldn’t have been out of the question, especially if all parties involved with the original returned with their lovable wit.
Not a single soul agreed to come back for Dumb and Dumberer, though, and thus we have one of the poorest excuses for a spinoff in the history of movies. It stars two completely different (though physically comparable) actors who bring nothing new to the roles. Instead, they use every ounce of energy to imitate each quip and mannerism of Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas, the two remarkably unintelligent characters created for Dumb and Dumber who manage to misunderstand and misspell just about everything and everyone that crosses their paths.
The subtitle When Harry Met Lloyd reveals that this film explains the origin of their idioctic escapades, which indeed it does: The pair run into each other (literally) on the first day of high school and become best friends. They don’t realize, of course, that they’re being singled out as “special” students by both their peers and their corrupt school principal. The newly-added (but completely bogus) special needs class turns out to be a dirty plan for the principal (Eugene Levy) to pocket a grant from the state's school budget. In all their idiotic glory, Harry (Derek Richardson) and Lloyd (Eric Christian Olsen) unknowingly help the mischievous plot unfold while screwing up their so-called love lives and involving themselves in an inapropriate amount of bowel movement jokes.
The romantic element is what drove the first Dumb and Dumber’s plot, but in this movie there’s nothing to inspire anything at all, whether it’s the story or the set decoration. Fans of the original will most certainly be looking for something at least remotely similar to what made them laugh hysterically in 1994, but even the gags that come directly from that movie are barely worth a chuckle at this point. Enthusiasts will notice Lloyd calling an British person “Frenchie” and Harry having an embarrassing bathroom accident involving melted chocolate, among a few other things, but beyond that there isn’t much that even the biggest Dumb and Dumber supporter should rightfully spend money on.
Among the many other things that Dumb and Dumberer wastes is an impressive supporting cast of comedic actors who are left entirely helpless. There’s hardly a scrap of intelligent writing for Eugene Levy, Luis Guzmán, Cheri Oteri, or even the long lost Bob Saget to work with. How bad does your movie have to be when reliable actors like this can’t add a shred of respectability to it?
Again, some movies take pleasure in being bad and they may even make it their mission for critics to find as many ways possible to tear them apart. For the most part, the Farrelly brothers’ Dumb and Dumber took this bull by the horns and lived to tell the tale. But in Dumb and Dumberer’s case, no one, including Harry and Lloyd’s most loyal followers, will honestly be able to say it’s an entertaining comedy. In fact, it’s a filmmaking atrocity that doesn’t even land on the good side of bad.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)