Dumb and Dumber To
20 years since their first adventure, Lloyd and Harry go on a road trip to find Harry’s newly discovered daughter, who was given up for adoption.
Cast
Jim Carrey – Lloyd Christmas
Jeff Daniels – Harry Dunne
Kathleen Turner – Fraida Felcher
Laurie Holden – Adele Pinchelow
Steve Tom – Dr. Pinchelow
Rachel Melvin – Penny Pinchelow
Brady Bluhm – Billy in 4C
Pretty Boy
Remember that ‘blind kid in the wheelchair’ who collected small birds from the first movie?
..he’s back.
Yes, Billy “pretty bird” has burst through puberty and become a fully grown young man.
With parrots.
The second he appeared on screen I exclaimed a sigh of refreshing recognition. Having the exact same guy return for the sequel to a movie twenty years on was fantastic. ‘Billy’ wasn’t exactly a leading character in Dumb and Dumber however entertaining his “can you say pretty bird?” scene was. But having Brady Bluhm return was the perfect ingredient in Dumb and Dumber To. Brilliant. I must add, the man is gorgeous as an adult! I Googled recent pictures of him and was quite surprised.
No Returns Policy
Shortly after I first saw the trailer for Dumb and Dumber To, I wondered if she’d be back.
The day I saw it, as the movie opened, I sat thinking, “please – let’s have a cameo appearance at least..”.
Mary Samsonite (Swanson).
The flame-haired, sweet petite love interest of both Lloyd and Harry in the first movie. Harry mentions her name in the opening scene of the movie (and the trailer), which stirred a feeling of anticipation – I would have loved to have seen actress Lauren Holly return. Even for just 1 to 2 minutes as a “I have a baby. It’s yours Lloyd” scenario to match Harry’s apparent dilemma.
..Mary never appeared.
Which if I’m honest, I felt deflated about seeing as Fraida Felcher (Turner) whose name was dropped in the first movie plays a part, as well as Billy. I think I wanted Lauren Holly to return mainly for nostalgia sake – Blind Billy was fantastic, so having Mary pop up would have been a brilliant reunion. Unfortunately, it wasn’t mean’t to be.
Dried Up
I felt like the boys were really forcing the humour in this sequel. The first movie introduces the audience to Lloyd and Harry, before following them on their bizarre journey and letting the hilarious mishaps unfold at a good pace. This one however, sees Daniels and Carrey burst onto the screen and immediately start throwing jokes at the audience. In an almost desperate style, the pair leave not one sentence untouched by their warped sense of humour, cramming in as many one-liner’s and jokes as possible.
Dumb and Dumber To was more like a showcase of their toilet humour and daftness, with staging and dialogue so obviously exaggerated that the movie became more of a pantomime. In Dumb and Dumber, we got a simple story played out by characters so naive they came across endearing at times. And a plot that was very easy to follow.
In Dumb and Dumber To, we get another plot that is easy to follow but seems to drown in the constant goofing around performed by the comedy pair. Daniels and Carrey bombard the audience with so much recycled jokes and humour that in actual fact, the movie probably didn’t even need a plot – the director may as well have let them both run riot on set and labelled it a spin-off.
The humour throughout this movie wasn’t great. It was dried up, recycled rubbish that didn’t come close to the wonderfully funny comedy many of us saw back in the 90’s.
The movie also repeated some elements from Dumb and Dumber; Lloyd’s imaginary fight scene between him and an enemy also interested in the female he lusts after. Lloyd’s in-depth sexy daydream about his love interest. And of course, the infamous Mutt Cuts mini-van makes a reappearance – a rather short, random reappearance (the director chucks it into the film for literally a few seconds, before getting rid of it again as though it was never there).
I’m aware some movies make sequels whereby the main lead actors return – which is great – bringing with them certain quirky actions or scenarios seen in the previous movie, this is a good thing. It reassures the viewer that they’re not getting a reformed main character with a different personality. Recognition is reminiscing.
The problem with Dumb and Dumber To is that it just didn’t work as well. Something about this movie was slack.
The Running Dead
My eyes lit up briefly the second Laurie Holden appeared on screen as wife of Harry’s daughter’s adoptive father. The talented blonde who played Andrea in successful television series The Walking Dead has joined the likes of Sarah Wayne Callies (Laurie) and Steven Yeun (Glenn). Good to see the cast branching out (Sarah Wayne being in recent flick Into The Storm, Steven in I, Origins). At least they’re getting work.
I wonder who’ll next be running from the dead to jump into a Hollywood movie..?
Bad Bad Guy
The ‘bad guy’ in this movie was just awful. Seriously.
Rob Riggle who plays handyman Travis doubles up characters as the movie antagonist sent out by Dr. Pinchelow’s wife (Holden) to whack Harry and Lloyd. But the man is incredibly ineffective. Viewers are treated to – well – absolutely nothing, as Travis (and twin brother Captain Lippencott) takes a back seat (literally) until the moment comes to pull his gun out..
Rob Riggle is like a pantomime performer – with the enthusiasm removed. The man seems to stand or strut around, shouting at the top of his voice in perfect military style – to no avail. Yes, he’s the main ‘baddie’ but by god is he awful. The man seems to bark like an angry dog, before fading nicely into the background.
Not good.
I wouldn’t watch Dumb and Dumber To again. I wouldn’t even buy it to add nicely to the first, because it is that bad. Yes, you get your fair share of giggles – mainly brought on by Carrey with some great facial expressions / vocal work – but apart from this light entertainment, the movie provides little in terms of structure and entertainment. Old jokes are pulled from Dumb and Dumber and recycled to supply laughs, but otherwise, this movie is more of a subtle apéritif than a main course.
Most of you are probably thinking, “what did you expect?” – and that’s probably the right reaction. But before I went to see Dumb and Dumber To, I did have my doubts. Back in 1994 when the first one was released, it was appreciated by millons due to the humour during that era. If you don’t want fart jokes and pure goofing around, then this isn’t the film for you. Humour has evolved, and with the likes of Seth Rogen, Rebel Wilson or Jonah Hill gracing our screens with more adult gags, Dumb and Dumber To slips into the background as more simple humour. Carrey and Daniels brought back their famous characters and stuck to the genre of mid-90’s comedy, but times have changed. And the movie got lost amongst the recent gems of Hollywood.
Nice try boys, but you should have left it at Dumb and Dumber.
If you’re a fan of the first movie, leave it there – don’t bother seeing this.
Ricky's Film Reviews 
i saw it at the weekend and having loved the first one I had to go see the second. In my opinion I wasn’t left disappointed like yourself as I found the majority of the film very fun and personally don’t think they could have done the film any other way. If they had based it around today’s humour it would not have been a sequel in my opinion. One thing I do think is much like the first I think its going to be one of those films that you have to watch more than once and the more times you watch it, the funnier it will be