Please note that this review is referring to the original cut of the movie, not the “unrated” edition.
Dumb and Dumber is one of those movies that I enjoyed during my childhood, and even after going through adulthood, is still one that I really enjoy because I still think the jokes are funny. In fact, I think some of the jokes are even funnier to me as an adult than when I was a kid. This is also a good movie to watch when you're not feeling too good because I recently had a small but potent phase of depression and a night watching this was the emotional pick-me-up I needed.
STORY
Dumb and Dumber follows two idiots in Providence, Rhode Island named Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels). Lloyd makes a big mistake on his job as a limousine driver when he mistakenly believes that Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) accidentally lost her luggage at the airport, and steals it before two hit people can retrieve it. Lloyd and Harry soon find themselves on a cross-country journey to Aspen, Colorado to return the luggage to Mary, and get tangled with trouble.
CHARACTERS
With this being a comedy about two rock-stupid guys, I think the Farrelly brothers did a great job at writing out the characters in this movie. Of course, Harry and Lloyd are the stars of this movie, and especially with Lloyd, they're perfect as “idiots” in this movie. Like a movie with good character development, Lloyd and Harry have very distinct personalities, and this really makes the movie such a ball to watch. Harry is the least dumb of the two, and has a slightly bigger conscience than Lloyd (though he's capable of doing low things). Lloyd is not only the dumbest of the two, but has a pretty dark personality, since he sells Harry's dead parakeet, Petey, to a blind kid before embarking on their journey to Aspen. Harry and Lloyd are excellent counterparts to Beavis and Butthead.
The other characters, such as Mary and the antagonist's hit people, are good as they are, but aren't as memorable as Harry and Lloyd.
HUMOR
With this movie being a comedy, the humor is the selling point of it. Thankfully, practically all the humor in this movie is top-notch.
The Farrelly brothers executed the humor very well in this movie. Among the most notable achievements in this area is the fact that they pull off “gross-out” humor that's actually funny. I find this a very tricky feat since so much humor of this ilk is done only to gross people out rather than laugh. Among the two funniest gags in this area would be when Harry accidentally angers a giant trucker named Sea Bass, and Sea Bass hocks a loogie into Harry's burger. You don't see the snot, but knowing that he's doing it makes it funny. The other is when Lloyd retaliates against some back-stabbing by Harry, and dumps a bunch of laxatives into Harry's tea. This causes Harry to run to the toilet once he gets to Mary's house, and the combination of him suffering on the toilet and the fade-in effect showing Lloyd manically laughing nearly killed me with laughter.
Other really funny moments in this movie are when a hitman named Mental tries to take out Lloyd and Harry at a restaurant, and the two dummies dare each other to eat “atomic peppers,” and the two try to cool off the heat in really humorous ways. Another is when Lloyd and Harry are at a gas station late at night, Lloyd is in the bathroom and realizes that he's in a bathroom specially marked for lewd conduct, and realizes he's in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I can keep going on about the jokes and gags, but I don't want to give away everything to you.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mark Irwin's cinematography for this movie is quite superb. The shots of the mountains in Aspen, the somewhat run-down areas in Providence, and other locales in this movie look really good, which strangely go together well with the humor.
SOUNDTRACK
The soundtrack for this movie largely consists of 90's rock like Green Jelly and Crash Test Dummies. While this type of music isn't really my thing, it fits this type of comedy movie like a glove. There's even some synthesizers played in a few parts of the movie that feel reminiscent of other movies from the early half of the 90's.
FINAL WORD
This is among the Farrelly brothers' finest movies, and is one of those movies actually deserving of the hype and “classic” status given to fans. If you're having a bad day, take some time off to watch this to make yourself feel better (though your sides and abs might hurt from all the laughs). Even if you're having a good day, pop this movie in and have some laughs.
