20 years after fans first followed Lloyd and Harry on their Aspen adventure in Dumb & Dumber, the two were reunited for a sequel in 2014 that both capitalized on a wave of nostalgia and also broadened the world of the dim-witted duo. Roles that made Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels household names were once again inhabited by the famous actors, but their presence did little to assuage fans' fears that the next chapter would live up to the original's irreverent sanctity.
Dumb & Dumber To is just as absurd, inane, and dumb as its predecessor, with the two once again going cross-country in pursuit of a ridiculous goal and manifesting chaos every mile. But amidst its bathroom humor, slapstick comedy, and inappropriate behavior, it also has just as much heart and camaraderie as the original. From its fresh take on old jokes to the inventive way Lloyd and Harry interact with a more technologically advanced world, there are many reasons why the sequel isn't as bad as viewers remember.
10 The Original Cast
Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels return as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, slipping right back into their pseudo Three Stooges routines like a pair of pastel tuxedos. Though they may go a bit overboard at times trying to recapture the magic, their onscreen chemistry still pops like the firecrackers they set off in Travis's bed.
Perhaps it's funnier to see these two plodding goons, long in the tooth but short on brains cells, not having gotten any further in life than when fans last saw them. The characters exude the same unfounded confidence, and the actors channel the same goofy optimism, right down to their body language and quirky speech habits.
9 The Original Writing And Directing Team
The Farrelly Brothers may not be the sibling team associated with clever nuance, but they have their own particular brand of successful humor.
They got the gang back together with a script that works, partially because they have a great creative relationship with their two charismatic leads. This second sojourn for Lloyd and Harry is no less ridiculous or less paved with hilarious suffering than the first outing, and though it may lack the emotion of the original in places, it doesn't lack the laughs.
8 Familiar Jokes Applied In New Ways
Do the boys find new and disgusting ways to eat food? Of course. Do they once again subject unsuspecting women to their uncouth catcalls? Certainly. Do they make their third wheel character the butt of merciless practical jokes? Without fail. But the jokes aren't just recycled for nostalgia alone - instead, they come across as inside jokes between the two main characters.
When Lloyd says, "Me likey a lot" and Harry laughs, fans get the sense that these two are used to hearing each other's catchphrases over the course of their lives. Rather than get into the same situations, they're simply the same people they've always been reacting to new stimuli, and it's a wild and amusing journey for them.
7 Nostalgia And Callbacks To The Original
There's certainly a time and a place for nostalgia in a sequel that can make sense without succumbing to too much fan service. Callbacks to Dumb & Dumber, like the one where Lloyd sold a decapitated parakeet to Billy (all grown up and played by the original actor, Brady Bluhm, in the sequel) are both welcome and hilarious.
Even the interaction with Billy is given a unique twist with a new bird, and Lloyd's hilarious dream sequences from the first movie are still cheesy romantic fantasies, but their punchline is improved upon by Harry getting a few of his own.
6 It Has Heart
Rather than specifically being a quick cash grab like it could have been, the movie took years to come together. It centered on the journey of two selfish men who haven't learned anything in the years since their last adventure, realizing that they need to grow up and face the realities of their ignorance in order to not lose lasting relationships.
As much as they want to remain adult toddlers forever, they can't, and the nature of the humor points to that in an ironic fashion. No one wants to hear two old farts talking about farts, and fans get the sense that even Lloyd and Harry know that as they move away from making the most annoying sound in the world and towards making the world a better place.
5 Outstanding Physical Comedy
Jeff Daniels has played many serious roles, so it's a delight to watch him move his body in ridiculous ways or turn his face into equally absurd shapes. And no one is as remarkable at the latter as Jim Carrey, and the two are as malleable as the limits of the physical form in their second go-around.
That the physical comedy is at an all-time high in the sequel should come as no surprise to anyone, with their uncanny ability to garner a laugh from the simple act of eating a hotdog. For Lloyd, it's all about slathering it in mustard, biting just the edges of the bun off, sliding the tube of the dog down his gullet, then using the remainder of the bun for a napkin before tossing the detritus away. Charlie Chaplin himself would be proud.
4 Clever Jokes
The humor in the sequel focuses a lot on flatulence, drug use, bodily fluids, and all the usual fare from the first movie, but it also has some incredibly funny moments that stem from subtle dialogue, such as in this exchange about Lloyd's surname: "Christmas? As in the holiday?” “No,” says Lloyd, “as in the tree."
For every joke that lands, several more fall flat, but there are always the hidden gems, like when Penny says to Lloyd, “I’ve always wanted to go to India and work in a leprechaun colony,” and he, after contemplating the statement replies, “I think you mean Ireland.” There are just as many memorable quotes as in the original.
3 Another Cross Country Caper
For fans of the sort of cross country shenanigans Lloyd and Harry get into in the first movie, or just road trip movies in general, the plot of Dumb & Dumber To will be appealing, especially since it's full of the same sort of fish-out-of-water jokes as the original whenever the bumbling pair encounter a new town.
When Harry has to track down his long-lost daughter because he'll die without her kidney, it's even more ridiculous than Lloyd tracking down a woman he thinks is his soulmate because she forgot her suitcase in his limo. That the pair end up celebrated at a "Ken Conference," where millionaire genius philanthropists engage in a titanic gathering of minds, is just icing on the cake.
2 Great Cameos
While it's difficult to imagine many people staying in Lloyd and Harry's lives for very long, given their reckless stupidity, their buffoonery wouldn't be nearly as amusing if they didn't have a great cast of characters serving as their victims.
Harry's old flame in the delightful form of Kathleen Turner is a fun foil to his shuffling oafishness, and the hilarious Rob Riggle becomes the begrudging third wheel on their road trip to find Harry's daughter, whom Lloyd torments to no end. There are even unexpected appearances from people like Bill Murray to keep the hilarity going.
1 It Was Made For The Fans
When Bill & Ted Face The Music came out and fans found out that Keanu Reeves took a huge pay cut to get the movie made, it wasn't surprising. The long-awaited threequel was always going to be for the fans.
Carrey also took a substantial pay cut to make this sequel, as well, as both he and Daniels wanted it to be a project for the fans who had been patiently waiting since the '90s. In the case of both movies, budget and script needed to coalesce at the right time.
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