DUMB AND DUMBER TO (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly). 110 minutes. Opens Friday (November 14). See listings. Rating: N
Dumb and Dumber To settles for revisiting the inane toilet humour of the 1994 original, where fecal matter is repeatedly and democratically spread around. The Farrelly Brothers don’t seem to realize that shit goes stale, too.
Once again Harry (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd (Jim Carrey) live up to the adjectives in the title as they head out on a road trip to track down the former’s daughter (Rachel Melvin), an adopted child he just found out he’d fathered.
Unlike, say, Three Stooges or Harold Lloyd comedies, which featured dim-witted characters in cleverly choreographed physical gags, the film abandons Harry and Lloyd to their own devices, as if being disgusting, irritable and, yes, dumb were funny.
If there were something exciting about the original, it was Carrey at the peak of his powers, a novelty act that allowed us to enjoy the infantile material because he was so gung-ho about diving into the performance.
Some gags here benefit from Carrey’s physicality, the elasticity in his step proving more effective than the constant scrunching of his face.
The Farrellys do have a knack for setting things up, using close-ups to surprise us with what’s barrelling toward the next frame. But these skills provide a few minor chuckles and only one legit laugh.
