It’s sporadically very funny, but the jokes fail to ignite.
Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Starring: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Rob Riggle, Laurie Holden, Rachel Melvin, Steve Tom
Rating: 12
Running time: 109 mins
Released: Friday December 19th
Besides MRS DOUBTFIRE and GREASE, DUMB & DUMBER was one of my favourite films growing up and so, whilst I mourned the dashed prospect of another MRS DOUBTFIRE, I was elated to hear news of a DUMB AND DUMBER sequel.
Two decades on, Jim Carrey has reprised his characters trademark bowl cut and chipped tooth alongside Jeff Daniels’ extreme case of bed hair, in the sequel to the original slapstick comedy.
Directed and written by the Farrelly brothers, DUMB AND DUMBER TO sees the return of idiotic best friends Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels) on yet another road trip, but this time to track down Harry’s daughter who was given up for adoption – who Lloyd falls for. Good riddance Mary..Swim? Swammi? Slippy? Slappy? Swenson? Swanson? Samsonite! I knew it started with an S.
They’re 20 years older but certainly not wiser. There are parts where old gags are recycled, like Lloyd using his breath spray but missing his mouth, and some of the overly exaggerated humour does fall on deaf ears, but attempts are made at modernising the film with a cameo appearance from HERE COMES HONEY BOO BOO’s matriach Mama June and Harry’s roommate channeling his inner Mr White by cooking blue crystal meth, a reference to BREAKING BAD.
The second installment holds true to the original; it’s silly and it’s crude, and there’s no denying Carrey and Daniels’ relentless onscreen energy. There is a sense of nostalgia as they don the same clothes and step back into the same apartment, recapturing what made us first love the two ‘90s characters. There’s even the return of Harry’s Mutt Cut’s van and a grown up Billy!
The duo bumble their way from Rhode Island to El Paso to try and find Harry’s long-lost daughter, as Harry needs a kidney transplant or he’s going to die. The daughter was put up for adoption by Harry’s ex-flame (Kathleen Turner) and raised by a science genius who is up for an award at the “Ken Conference”. The double act have to get there, and also save the day from baddies giving chase to steal “a billion-dollar idea” from the stepfather inventor. That is quite the plot… it is rather nonsensical and includes pointless diversions.
Bobby and Peter Farrelly‘s sequel to their hit 1994 comedy embraces every crude, lewd and inappropriate set-up imaginable in its relentless pursuit of trying to make the follow-up as successful as the original film, but I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. The film still cracks nonstop jokes, however, plenty of them just die on the screen. It needs a touch of tenderness, perhaps, which the original achieved.
DUMB AND DUMBER TO has a plethora of memorable scenes, which remain remarkably true to the original, but it doesn’t quite live up to the same feat as its predecessor. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels resume their slapstick double-act well 20 years on and it’s sporadically very funny, but the jokes fail to ignite. It’s an amusing watch, but unfortunately it doesn’t top the first.
Verdict
DUMB AND DUMBER TO hits cinemas 19th December 2014.
