Dumb Happens

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 2017)

Hoping to return an abandoned briefcase to a beautiful woman he drove to the airport, a limousine driver takes his best friend on a cross country trip, unaware that he is being pursued by angry kidnappers in this comedy starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. As per the title, the running gag is that the friends are incredibly stupid - and oblivious to the fact that the briefcase contains a hefty ransom. The film gets its best laughs from the kidnappers coming to believe that the pair are highly trained assassins and criminal masterminds; their ignorance towards being pursued is also often funny with the pair leaving a note to the "gas man", which the kidnappers think is written to them and so on. What does not work so well are the simple scenes of the pair acting stupid. From blowing their noses on $100 bills to getting their tongues stuck on cold surfaces, it is all pretty groan-inducing stuff. There is an overabundance of toilet humour too (the cop taking a drink scene is very funny though). Daniels also gets far better laughs than Carrey. The way Daniels manages to keep a straight face while saying things like his pet bird's "head fell off" is far more amusing than Carrey's excessive mugging. Thorns and all though, this is entertaining stuff while it lasts. The gags may vary in effectiveness but the leads are always vibrant and full of energy with a very genuine chemistry between them.