Movie Review: Dumb and Dumber
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What Parents Should Know
The caviar of lowbrow, this unapologetically crass mega-hit
stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as nitwits trying to return a
briefcase full of ransom money to its rightful owner. Masters
of the genre, the Farrelly Brothers deliver nonstop,
gut-churning laughs for adults as well as kids; however,
parents of preteens should be advised of slapstick violence and
moderate sexual content. It's your call, parents, as to whether
you want your preteens seeing this. The PG-13 rating -- for
comedic violence, explosive bowels, and sexual situations -- is
a sound recommendation for your supervision. Teenagers will
laugh themselves sore. Adults who believe they're above this
sort of thing may find themselves pleasantly mistaken.
Obviously, Harry and Lloyd are no role models. Families who see this may want to discuss why their antics are funny on film but inappropriate in real life.
Common Sense Media Review
Imbecile roommates Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff
Daniels) give up their low-profile jobs and their dreams of
opening a worm store to track down a lovely acquaintance of
Lloyd's named Mary (Lauren Holly) and return to her the
briefcase she left at the airport. Little do they know that
Mary ditched the case on purpose, that it's full of ransom
money, and that the pair of thugs sent to retrieve it are hot
on their tail.
Bumbling along in a van revamped to look like a sheepdog, Lloyd and Harry avoid being murdered several times over by sheer dumb luck. They arrive in Aspen, find Mary, and become entangled in a clumsy kidnapping plot, but the true test of their friendship comes when the two friends enter into a competition for the same girl's affection.
Brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly elevate bodily fluid humor to as high a level as low art can climb. They know what's funny, and they throw it on the screen regardless of how vulgar or political incorrect it is. There's a gleefulness in that for adults -- it's like being back on the elementary school playground, laughing at somebody making rude noises with a hand cupped to his armpit. Few teens will have trouble surrendering to its raw charm.
Jeff Daniels, from whom we don't expect this kind of behavior, is impressively moronic in one of the two title roles. Jim Carrey is restrained just enough to keep us wanting more, and shows glimpses of the acting ability that would win him critical praise for The Truman Show . A 16-year-old watching them haplessly road-trip to Aspen said, "I wish I was in the car with them." She saw them as more than simple buffoons; they had an endearing side as well.
The movie only really fails when it abandons its stars in pursuit of a lame kidnapper/hitman subplot. If it loses gas altogether at the end, that should be expected of something propelled by so much gas early on.
So what if it was targeted as an example of "the dumbing-down of America"? Hollywood has been cranking out dumb movies since the studios first opened their gates. Many of them fall through the cracks. Others, like the Abbott and Costello classics, mysteriously float and remain a part of our culture. Whether Dumb and Dumber has enduring value is inconsequential. For now, it's darned good fun. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The prequel,
Dumb
and Dumberer
, is not nearly as much fun.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
