‘Dumb and Dumber To’ is Too Dumb For its Own Good

Jonathan Graves

The year was 1994 and in that summer there was a comedic surge boiling under Hollywood. A new face had hit the scene in a blow out of two massive successes, including his comedic feature debut, and there was one more on the way. In December the last of those three films would hit and catapult Carrey to a household name. That film was “Dumb and Dumber,” a directorial debut by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, and another hit for Carrey. The film has had a special charm over the years and with it, gained many adoring fans.

Fast forward 20 years later and all the pieces are set in place for a sequel. The Farrelly Brothers are back in the directing chair and the original stars, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels have returned to don their beloved character’s personas once again. But something is a bit off. The landscape of Hollywood has drastically changed since the original hit theaters. We no longer are given 90s comedies that audiences can watch play out through endearing characters, we are given 90-120 minute gimmicks that have characters spout out pop culture references or become too self referential. So will the “Dumb and Dumber” sequel conform or stick to its root and be a film out of time? Sadly, there’s a lot of conformity going on and its execution is strongly below par of the original.

The script, sometimes going out of its way to do so, makes it quite clear that Lloyd and Harry have not gained a single shred of knowledge between the time the credits rolled on the first film. This makes sense because who ever honestly saw these guys going back to school? The plot kicks off when Harry reads an old letter from Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner), a character only mentioned in the first film, and discovers he is a dad to a now-adult daughter. This is of utmost importance because Harry is in need of a kidney transplant and she would potentially be the right match.  They hit the road to find Fraida and to see Penny (Rachel Melvin) to deliver the good news. They discover that Penny is on her way to El Paso for a science conference. Harry and Lloyd are entrusted with a mystery package containing her adoptive father’s lifework that will help mankind and need to deliver it to her before her speech. This package is also a side plot, as a scheme to steal the adoptive father’s money is being. That may seem similar to those familiar with the first film, as it’s exactly the same set up as its original counterpart.

While some may say, the plot to “Dumb and Dumber” didn’t matter; it would have been nice to see the characters tackle something from a new perspective. You can literally pin point the sequences that they are ripping out of the original and rehashing.

Overall, Dumb and Dumber To is a clever title for a not-so-clever film with a shockingly low amount of effective levity and an over abundance of humorless gags, sloppy writing and poor pacing. During the credits, we are given a slideshow of stills from the first film that make you wish it was 1994 again and you were about to watch a comedy full of heart and bravery, instead of wishing you had your 110 minutes back.

‘Dumb and Dumber To’ hits theaters Nov. 14.