I would call myself a fan of the original Dumb and Dumber. The Farrelly Brothers, from the movies of theirs that I have seen, tend to take their comedy to the boundaries of good taste and sense. And yet, we laugh – yes, we all laugh at some of the silliest, dumbest, grossest things that they can possibly put into a PG-13 movie. Really, I don’t think they could get away with some of the stuff in these movies if not for the fact that 1. They are vastly entertaining even so, to the point where critics seem entirely fine with them being “gross-out” comedies 2. They contain endearing protagonists who, while dumb in some way or another, seem like characters that the writers actually care about, rather than simply objects of ridicule.
That’s a hard task to convey in a comedy. Usually, your protagonist feels just like a Dan Aykroyd-esque straightman, who’s the only bastion of seriousness in a world of silly thing. Or, on the other hand, you kinda hate the guy and whatever his objective constitutes but you still keep laughing (i.e., every dark comedy ever made probably fits into this category). In Farrelly Brothers comedies, you get the strange sense that you are supposed to enjoy the antics of your two rather mentally short leads as they go on a road trip. In fact, everything just works out for them, not because of their stupidity but because, at heart, they’re weirdly honest and the duplicitous people get the boot.
I suppose that’s why I love the first movie so much (apart from the snowball fight scene, which makes me laugh just thinking about it). It kept things twisted in Jim Carrey’s prime, and Jeff Daniels somehow proved a perfect complement to his antics. You might say it doesn’t seem written like a Carrey star vehicles, but a buddy comedy starring two lovable dimwits with some great set up and punchlines. Only smart people could ever write comedy this good and this weird, and it’s a surprise it ever caught on.
So we come to this sequel, Dumb and Dumber To. By its nature, a sequel cannot ever hope to live up to the expectations of its forebearers. I mean, seriously, it’s been 20 years since the last one; everyone who comes back for the sequel aged two decades, so you would imagine they couldn’t ever replicate the same magic. You can take this new film in two ways, really: as a pretty funny and competent comedy with two guys you kinda sorta remember, or a pretty bad sequel to a great movie. I choose the former, mostly because this film worked for me more often than not.
See, the problem with sequels to comedies comes with a lack of surprise. It must always prove self-referential at some points, where it just sorta shows you something from the first film and expects it to become entertaining by virtue of it being in a different movie. That part irks people who watch tons of films to no end, and I understand their laments. I just find them completely overstated. How we know that Dumb and Dumber To was a sequel if not for some vague references to the first film? Heck, they even got the same blind kid back for more punishment at the hands of our dumb idiots. None of the callbacks proved too distracting; to me, they served as a bridge for fans estranged from this odd Farrelly universe for two decades, and they function precisely for that purpose.
Where things get more problematic comes in the plot. In a word, it simply says “hey, here is this elaborate excuse to get us onto the exact same premise, except in a way that makes significantly less sense!” I get that they wanted to create a strange thorough line between this movie and the previous one (Harry and Lloyd once again end up on a road trip), but getting there via an estranged daughter seems quite far-fetched (and, in the end, every single part of the premise ends up as an elaborate joke – not sure if that’s a spoiler or not!). The first movie seemed a bit more natural, given that two people like this would certainly find some woman’s luggage and return it to her via road-trip, but this one doesn’t even hinge on THAT much. Yes, I am somehow complaining about the plot for a dumb comedy film, but hey, I can nitpick a little bit, alright?
Still, we end up in exactly the kinds of places where clueless people should not appear – science fairs, whatever – and watch them do their work. I think a lot of the impression of “kindness” comes from the fact that nobody really “mocks” the two guys for being dumb; rather, they somehow are mistaken for geniuses, smart people, or generally of a certain character for one reason or another. Perception seems to dictate the path of the boys, rather than any notions of outright mockery, and the sequel generally embodies the spirit of the first in that way. As such, I really just don’t want to spoil much of anything for those who didn’t watch it.
On another note, fair warning for people who are easily offended – this movie will offend you. If anything, it shows that the R rating of today is most definitely the PG-13 rating of today, and by golly do they try their best to push that boundary without quite crossing the line. But, the offense is part of the point, and the Farrellys are equal opportunity in their offense, so it comes off good-natured rather than mean-spirited. But, if you know me by now, you know I like laughing at entirely inappropriate things, so that’s as far as a recommendation as I can give!
