Dumb and Dumberer
Review by Clint Morris
 After
the success of Dumb and Dumber - a dimwit comedy that
starred Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two numbskulls always
getting themselves into sticky, sometimes side-splittingly
funny, situations - a sequel was hurriedly discussed.
All these years later, it's finally here - but without the
original leads, without the original directors, and -ahem-
without a screenplay.
In fact, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd,
which centers on the two titular characters as highschoolers,
is such a calamitous sequel you could swear it's been made
with the utmost confidence that everyone involved assumed
it would premiere straight to cable TV. And it should've.
It's the first day of high school and Harry, who previously
has been home schooled by his mother (Mimi Rogers), needs
someone to show him the ropes. Lloyd, who opportunely lives
in the school's basement with his adoptive dad/school custodian
Ray (Luis Guzman), turns out to be just the guy.
Completely sightless to all around them, they unsuspectingly
fall into the web of corrupt Principal Collins (Eugene Levy)
and his girlfriend, head lunch lady Ms. Heller (Cheri Oteri),
who want them to be the first students in a phony "special
needs" class in order to bilk $100,000 in grant money
for themselves.
And the only one who seems to smell the stench of corruption
in the air is the pretty Jessica Matthews (Rachel Nichols),
a hard-hitting reporter for the school's newspaper.
What made Dumb and Dumber such a success, and so funny,
was the comedy presence of its leads, notably Carrey. He was
a riot, and just one look at the man in his guise would have
you in stitches. But in addition to that, the Farrelly Brothers
[who later went on to direct mega-hit There's Something
About Mary] wrote a genuinely funny script.
It was nothing applaudable, but it had some stand-out funny
moments. The follow-up has none. In fact, the main stimulus
of the sequel seems to be see how many different minorities
the film can insult in the space of its hour and a half.
Okay, so our two young stand-in's do a good enough job, and
there's a moderately amusing gag involving Bob Saget and a
bathroom full of dung, but on the whole, Dumb and Dumberer:
When Harry Met Lloyd might've been better left to gather
dust a few more years... At least until they'd managed a way
to write Jim Carrey back into it.
2 out of 5
Dumb and Dumberer
Australian release: Thursday September 25th
Cast: Eric Christian Olsen, Derek Richardson, Luis Guzman,
Eugene Levy, Shia LaBeouf, Rachel Nichols, Mimi Rogers, Bob
Saget.
Director: Troy Miller.
Website: Click
here
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