Growing up, I had many an idea for a potential sequel, the main one being that Harry and Lloyd come across a fortune and open up their worm store, possibly in a leased building from a scheming villain, and have to do something that unknowingly stops him. As the years turned into decades, I kinda cooled on anything to do with a follow up, and even came to the conclusion that our heroes walking down the road was the perfect conclusion.
Too bad Bobby and Peter Farrelly disagreed.
Dumb and Dumber To, the latest in a looooong line of classics turned into "franchises", picks up right where the audience is as - 20 some odd years later. The guys made it back to Rhode Island, but soon after, Lloyd fell catatonic and got stuck in a hospital. Exactly as depicted in that wretched trailer, it's revealed that he was pranking Harry all this time. They share a genuine laugh, before Harry violently yanks on Lloyd's catheter.
The above is both what is wrong AND right about this sequel.
That penis jerking incident served as foreshadowing for some of the desperate reaches for chuckle gags that occur later on. Gags like sticking your hand up an old woman's vagina and pulling out dust. Haw Haw. Early on, it's mentioned that Lloyd had a partial lobotomy done on him during his hospital stay. The friends gloss over it (as they should) and chalk it up as more funny. Indeed, but it does sort of explain why they are dumber than before. Lloyd eats a hot dog as if he were an alien from beyond, despite knowing how to eat a burger in the original. Harry pronounces subtle as "sub-tull", despite... well... my point is, neither man was THAT dumb. VERY dimwitted, yes, but more Homer Simpson and less Peter Griffin.
That's the big problem. It's the difference between The Simpsons and Family Guy. Both are good in their own right, but combining both versions of comedy feels very incorrect.
However, not all is worrisome. What that opening (and the rest of the movie) gets right and very correct is everything else aside from the characters' intelligence. Their bond/relationship, their lifestyles and their internal logic towards one another and all else. They may have lost some brain cells, but Harry and Lloyd do care about each other, and couldn't exist the same way without one another. Some of that sweetness is still hanging around, and this may be due not just to the nostalgic wanting to love these people that the audience has, but from the commitment of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Never once over the top and always sincere, they're able to bring out the humanity in spite of the actions of the script. To go from Aaron Sorkin to modern Farrelly Bros wasn't a problem for Daniels, and Carrey fits in so well you almost forget that Mr. Poppers Penguins happened. Almost.
Could a better Dumb and Dumber sequel have been made? I certainly think so. What we got was a strange sequel/retry hybrid, devoted more towards silliness and less towards devoted friendship and adventure. This focus could've classified the flick as "schlock" (and might just be), but it's the performances - filled with cute sentiment and persistent/consistent dedication - that bring this up to watchable status. That and they reused the theme song from Apache Indian. Man, am I a sucker for that song.
2.5 / 5 *S
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