Starring: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Laurie Holden, and Kathleen Turner
I'm amazed at how moviegoers need to learn the same lesson over and over again year after year. Some movies should just be left alone. In most cases, there's absolutely no need for a sequel. I was never a huge fan of the original Dumb and Dumber film or the hackneyed attempts at sequels over the years. Some twenty years later, I'm still opposed to the prospect of a sequel, even if Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels are reprising their original roles. At 52 and 59 years of age respectively, Carrey and Daniels are now men of a certain age. With this in mind, there's not a damn thing more I can say than that I have no interest whatsoever in seeing some grown men act like children in Dumb and Dumber To.
It's been twenty years since the events of Dumb and Dumber. Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) is in a home getting care. His best friend Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) visits him regularly, doing whatever is needed to help him live in what comfort he can. One day, Harry comes and tells Lloyd that he will no longer be visiting him as he needs to get a kidney transplant. On this day, Lloyd reveals that he's been working on a twenty year gag to say "Got ya!" to his longtime friend. He’s actually just fine. Soon thereafter, Lloyd cleans himself up and dedicates himself to helping his friend find a kidney. Their first stop is to visit Harry's parents where they learn he may have a daughter named Penny (Rachel Melvin) courtesy of former lover Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner).
Two grown ass men acting like children is enough to make me turn on a movie, and this is exactly what's happened with the Dumb and Dumber sequel (not that I needed much of a push). Nothing good can come of a film like Dumb and Dumber To. The days of childish slapstick humor of this nature are long gone. Just look what happened a couple of years ago in The Three Stooges. It was a hot mess. With half-baked humor that's underwhelming at its best and revolting at its worst, Dumb and Dumber To succumbs to the same fate. However, moviegoers are giving this movie legs at the box office for some bizarre reason.
I just don't get why Jim Carrey or Jeff Daniels would return to a franchise like this. Though the original led them to cinematic gold two decades ago, they've each gone on to have successful careers since then. For his part, Carrey has proven his versatility over the years as both a comedic and dramatic actor. Daniels, on the other hand, is wrapping up his Emmy-winning turn as Will McAvoy on The Newsroom. There's absolutely no need for these veteran performers to shove each other around and deliver all sorts of disgusting antics all over again. They're too damn old, and it's just embarrassing. I just don't get why they would ever reprise their roles.
It's clear where I stand on this one. Dumb and Dumber To gets a wasted rating. Some mystery shots should numb the pain.
