A Dumb Comedy with A lot of Brains

Rating: Null/10 (24 June 2012)

Dumb and Dumber (1994)
*** (out of 4)
Idiots and best friends Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels) travel from the East Coast to Aspen so that Lloyd can give a briefcase to the woman (Lauren Holly) he's fallen in love with. The two don't realize that they've just gotten involved in a kidnapping plot. DUMB AND DUMBER is obviously a pretty dumb movie with one dumb thing after another happening but it's also one of the smartest comedies in the past few decades. I think anyone could have made a movie about dumb people as they do it all the time but the writing here was just so perfect that you can't help but be drawn into Lloyd and Harry's world as they get into one problem after another. A large portion of the credit has to go to Carrey and Daniels for delivering two excellent performances. It's not easy playing dumb but these two do it so well that it would be impossible for any other actors to fit these roles. Carrey, the maniac, does a very good job at playing Lloyd for this moron who never knows when to give up. Daniels, I think the smarter of the two, manages to sometimes be ahead of his friend but the way the actor plays almost like a big brother was extremely fun. The two of them have perfect chemistry together and the majority of the jokes wouldn't work if they hadn't, one, nailed their performances and two, worked so well together. Holly does a good job looking pretty and playing it straight to the two idiots but I think Mike Starr is the one who gets overlooked. He's a wonderful character actor and has put his stamp on many great films but the comic timing here was just perfect and the scenes with him and boys are priceless and among the best in the picture. The one flaw with the picture is that it does run a bit too long and especially in its "uncut" version. These extra jokes really don't add enough to the film to warrant them be included. Still, DUMB AND DUMBER is one of the better comedies to come from the 90s.