Movie Review: Dumb and Dumber To (2014)

The movie stars Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Laurie Holden, Rob Riggle and Rachel Melvin.

My wife and I both love the original "Dumb and Dumber" movie and, when this sequel first came out, we did discuss seeing it at the theater. However, our schedules did not allow for that and, as a result, we finally had an opportunity to watch it on DVD last night. As it turns out, we were actually glad we didn't pay to see this at the theater.

I'll start out by saying this movie did prove to be somewhat funny. Harry (Daniels) and Lloyd (Carrey) are as bizarre as a set of friends can be, especially when they go to extreme lengths to prank each other. And, because of that, I can honestly say I didn't hate this movie.

However, as should probably be expected, this sequel never really reached a point where I felt it matched or at least complemented the original. As I said, it had its funny moments. But, it just never had the same magical feel to it. The jokes, at times, just seemed forced. Plus, I don't think it was a coincidence that some of the funniest of those jokes were the result of them building off of a gag from the original film.

Another thing I found I wasn't a fan of with this movie was the high number of raunchy jokes. The original had its share of these too. But, this film seemed to rely on them much more and, more often than not, they really weren't as funny as I think they were intended to be.

I think one of the biggest disappointments from this movie is the way it failed to really give us a backstory about Penny's (Melvin) stepmother (Holden) and her lover/henchman Travis (Riggle). Yes, I get they were after Penny's step-dad's (Steve Tom) money. But, without given them any sort of depth, they just seemed to lack something. This, again, is something the original film did correctly and that movie was much better as a result.

It's an OK film. But, it's not anywhere near as memorable as the original and, again, I'm glad I didn't spend money to see it at the theater.

My Grade: C