DUMB AND DUMBER TO (2014)

Rated: PG-13


Stars: Jim Carrey,  Jeff Daniels,  Kathleen Turner
Director: Bobby Farrelly, J. B. Rogers
Genre: Comedy



I'm going to say up front that Jill talked me into seeing this movie. As a lark. Like gassing up at Texaco and peeing in the park. Just to see how stupid one movie could actually be. And with a title like Dumb And Dumber To, the Farrelly Brothers were giving themselves carte blanche to go there in spades. 

I'll put it this way. If the characters of Lloyd and Harry that Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels are playing were real people, they would be confined to an institution. Which, ironically, is where we find them at the beginning of the flick. Lloyd has been in a catatonic state for the last twenty years (the time that has elapsed since the original Dumb & Dumber). Harry visits to change his diaper and wipe his butt.  And, of course, we get to watch. (Changing a grown person's diaper may be funny only if you're not the one doing it!)

There is a plot. Harry needs a kidney transplant, and he needs to find a relative who would make a donor match. So they go in search of the daughter he never knew. It goes on from there, but it doesn't bear mentioning because the plot exists to serve the slapstick nature of the film, which is aimed at 12 to 15 year-old boys who are still fascinated with fart jokes. (And certain rather twisted adults...not mentioning any names!)

There were about three gags in the whole movie (in addition to the title) that made me laugh out loud. Jill, on the other hand, was spewing her drink all over the place. (Just kidding--we're too cheap to pay those inflated concession prices.)  

Kathleen Turner, a bombshell in films like Body Heat back in the 80s is...well...let's be kind and say matronly looking at this stage of the game. Give her credit for saying, in essence, time flies and this is me as I am ....so suck it! Don't look back. Which I'm trying not to do because I'm thinking that for the price of admission to this film, I could have gotten myself a couple bean burritos and started cracking my own fart jokes. 

Grade: C -

JILL'S TAKE

Had I not suggested this super silly cinematic experience, Tim wouldn't have been able to pen such a witty review. (So there!) As I entered the totally empty theater, something told me I was in for 'beyond stupid.' Then two more people sauntered in, looking embarrassed to be seen. Okay. It was a ridiculous film but you could tell that the actors were having a blast. My advice? If you are knowingly going to a movie with a title like this one, forget about plot, character development and nuance. Leave all that at the door.

Yes, I laughed out loud. And, yes, I'll admit I enjoyed Jim Carrey's antics and Jeff Daniels idiotic facial expressions. (A far cry from the role he plays in the HBO series "The Newsroom" for which he won an Emmy.) But it takes a very special person—a very brainless one—to get into the spirit of Dumb And Dumber To. It's hard for me to imagine anyone who reads this blog going to see this particular flick But I'm not sorry I did....

Grade: C

YES MAN

Yes Man is a formulaic romantic comedy--but the formula, which is to turn Jim Carrey loose for all of the pratfalls and spasmodic creativity he's noted for--works splendidly in a script where just about anything goes.

Carrey is Carl Allen, a man mired in negativity. He's reeling from his recent divorce, and his career is going nowhere. He avoids socializing with his friends--he'd rather hang out at the video store.(I can identify with that!) Then he finds himself at a seminar run by a fanatical guru named Terrence (Terence Stamp) who exhorts his followers to say YES to every possibility. Carl drinks the Kool-Aid, and his personality is transformed.

This is where the laughs get rolling.

Because he can't say no, Carl gives a ride to a homeless guy. (I won't reveal what happens, but it's one of the quirky/funnier scenes in the movie.) Carl ends up out of gas and stranded. We'd all view that as being a bummer, but that's when he meets Allison, (Zooey Deschanel) a free-spirit who writes off-beat lyrics and sings with a band. On Allison's motorbike, the two of them embark on a series of adventures and misadventures that will test the limits of Carl's new philosophy and his fledgling romance with Allison.

Deschanel is right for this part--she's just so darn wholesome looking and cute that I am hereby declaring that ZOOEY DESCHANEL IS THE NEW MEG RYAN! (The OLD Meg Ryan still has plenty left in the tank, but she'll have to be replaced eventually.)

There are some interesting philosophical issues in play here. In line with Buddhist thinking is the idea that what may initially be interpreted as an unfortunate occurrence may, in time, turn out to be just the opposite. And something we're going ape-shit with ecstacy over (like Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch) might come back to bite us on the butt, because all of the future ramifications have yet to be revealed.

Brainwashing of any sort--whether it stems from religious dogma or military-style indoctrination that induces one to follow orders blindly and disregard one's own moral or ethical compass--denies the existential responsibility of making up your own mind in compliance with that little thing called your conscience. Saying yes to everything would undoubtedly open up a whole new world of possibilities--but, as Carl soon learns, it also exposes him to those who would take unfair advantage.

Who woulda thunk that a Jim Carrey movie would be this deep?

GRADE: B