Dumb & Dumber (1994) starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Victoria Rowell directed by Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly Movie Review

Dumb & Dumber (1994)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in Dumb & Dumber (1994)

Christmas Wants Holly

This probably sounds rather stupid but whilst I enjoyed "Dumb & Dumber" it became tiring because it was trying too hard to be funny. I would hazard a guess that there was more jokes than minutes it is that full of humour from Jim Carrey giving us some typical Jim Carrey antics to a van made to look like a dog. But like with so many movies which throw one joke after another at the audience not all of them work and the longer it goes on the less funny it got. Now I am probably in the minority here because there is a lot of love for "Dumb & Dumber" but sometimes less in more.

Best Buddies Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels - Speed) and Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey - The Mask) decide to drive all the way to Aspen when Lloyd finds himself in possession of a briefcase left an airport by Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) who he was chauffeuring before he got fired. What Lloyd doesn't know is that the briefcase was left intentionally as it contained ransom money. So Lloyd and Harry hit the road in Harry's van and have a trip full of incidents.

Lauren Holly as Mary Swanson in Dumb & Dumber (1994)

To be blunt "Dumb & Dumber" is slim on story as we basically have a road trip where Lloyd and Harry get in to a few incidents, including a run in with a heavy who wants the briefcase back. And that is it as whilst once they reach Aspen the story goes on with a bit of a romantic love triangle it isn't much. But in truth you don't watch "Dumb & Dumber" for the story because this is a movie which right from the outset is about the humour as we watch Lloyd pull up in his limo and flirts with an Austrian woman as if she is Australian.

So the humour, there is a lot of it, in fact I think "Dumb & Dumber" may have one of the highest proportion of gags to running time I have come across. I swear there is more jokes than there is minutes which at 107 minutes means there is a lot of gags, from short one liners to big multi-layered gags. The trouble is that rather than being a clever joke-fest it becomes an onslaught and the longer it goes on the more tiring it becomes. By the time the movie finally wends its way to an ending you are relieved because whilst you will have laughed you will also feel exhausted.

Now "Dumb & Dumber" is about Lloyd and Harry which means we have Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels playing two loveable goofs which to be honest it's hard not to like the whacky duo. But whilst Daniels is simply funny because of his wild hair "Dumb & Dumber" is very much a movie which focuses on Carrey and his over the top gurning and arm waving. Like the movie it is fun to start with but before we get close to the end it becomes annoying, which unfortunately is the case in other Jim Carrey movies as well.

What this all boils down to is that "Dumb & Dumber" is a fun movie, a stupid movie but still a fun one which will make you laugh. But unfortunately it becomes hard work because it becomes a procession of gags which becomes less and less funny the longer the movie goes on.


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