Dumb and Dumber (1994)

For some reason this movie is a certain fellow's Christmas tradition, and I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, so I settled down for a viewing of something I wasn't certain I'd still like now that I had become so very mature. Written and directed by the Farrelly brothers, Dumb And Dumber finds clueless but well-meaning idiot roommates Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) out of work and out of money. On his last day as a limo driver, Lloyd falls in love with Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), who leaves her suitcase at the airport as ransom money to the people who kidnapped her husband. Lloyd thinks she's forgotten it and grabs it before they do, then convinces Harry to accompany him on a road trip to Aspen to return it to her. So now some bad guys with guns are after the duo, thinking them cunning rival criminals.

Harry and Lloyd bumble across the country in a van dressed up as a dog and then later on a tiny motorcycle/moped contraption. They somehow make it to Aspen and end up cracking open the case and using most of the money for a hotel suite and new clothes (they replace the bills with IOU's). They track down Mary, but Lloyd is nervous around her and sends Harry to set up a meeting. Naturally Harry starts to fall for her, and she finds his goofiness and ineptitude cute, so Harry secretly goes on a date with her while sending Lloyd to wait in a bar. When Lloyd realizes his woman is being romanced by his best buddy, their friendship becomes strained and he sabotages Harry's advances. Eventually the kidnappers and the FBI catch up with Harry and Lloyd and everything is worked out hurray.

Um so I'm not the biggest fan of Jim Carrey. When I was a kid I remember finding his movies very funny but I think it was partially due to that cool grown-up feeling you get from watching PG-13 movies at age 9. Now I find his persona pretty annoying. That being said, he was ok in this movie, and greatly aided by the presence of the always-likable Jeff Daniels. Once you get over the stupidity of the plot and general ineptitude of the characters, it has a lot of very funny and silly moments. I didn't really like Lloyd's character because he was so selfish it made him unsympathetic. Jeff Daniels was adorable and goofy and had good chemistry with Jim Carrey, making their scenes together worth it. I guess I don't really have much to say about the movie overall. It's enjoyable and funny but too dumb to be particularly memorable. It's probably more for Jim Carrey fans though.

3.5/5

Addendum: I just remembered I had a pretty bad tummy ache while I was watching this, which may have affected my enjoyment of the film. Just putting that out there.