Sometimes things are exactly as they seem. Such is the case with Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, the prequel to the Farrelly brothers' 1994 no-brainer comedy Dumb and Dumber. As the subtitle suggests, the film details the first contact between village idiots Harry Dunne (Derek Richardson) and Lloyd Christmas (Eric Christian Olsen). Unfortunately, the players that made the original a success (Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels and the Farrellys) are all conspicuously absent, leaving Jack Frost-perpetrator Troy Miller and two earnest novices onboard a sinking ship.
Filling the comedic shoes of their predecessors is not an easy task by any means, but that doesn't excuse Miller and company for the sloppy patchwork of awful puns, double entendres and slapstick that is Dumb and Dumberer. Miller's directorial choices are amateurish from his reliance on flashbacks and voiceovers to his gratuitous use of special effects, including a computer-animated Slurpee-induced brain freeze.
As co-screenwriter, Miller is only partly to blame for a clunky storyline that's so chock full of brutal exposition that it makes Adam West look like Sir Anthony Hopkins. Meanwhile, Eugene Levy's supporting role as the high school principal fails to buoy the rest of the leaden cast, and is especially disappointing given his delightful American Pie performances.
As a desperate attempt at "edgy" humour, Miller shamelessly includes a Chinese exchange student named "Ching Chong" (Michelle Krusiec). I was offended not only as a person of Asian descent, but more so as a sentient being. For those able to withstand Dumb and Dumberer's mind-numbing antics and horrible comedic timing, I salute you. (Alliance Atlantis)
Filling the comedic shoes of their predecessors is not an easy task by any means, but that doesn't excuse Miller and company for the sloppy patchwork of awful puns, double entendres and slapstick that is Dumb and Dumberer. Miller's directorial choices are amateurish from his reliance on flashbacks and voiceovers to his gratuitous use of special effects, including a computer-animated Slurpee-induced brain freeze.
As co-screenwriter, Miller is only partly to blame for a clunky storyline that's so chock full of brutal exposition that it makes Adam West look like Sir Anthony Hopkins. Meanwhile, Eugene Levy's supporting role as the high school principal fails to buoy the rest of the leaden cast, and is especially disappointing given his delightful American Pie performances.
As a desperate attempt at "edgy" humour, Miller shamelessly includes a Chinese exchange student named "Ching Chong" (Michelle Krusiec). I was offended not only as a person of Asian descent, but more so as a sentient being. For those able to withstand Dumb and Dumberer's mind-numbing antics and horrible comedic timing, I salute you. (Alliance Atlantis)