Movie Review: Dumb and Dumberer

Weird hairdos, wearing beyond-dorky clothes, freezing in Atlanta and being trapped in a run-away grocery cart! These are the pitfalls of playing the younger versions of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the prequel to Dumb and Dumber,Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. The two leads of the film Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson had a wild time introducing the world to the younger versions of two lovable wackos.

It's 1986, and Lloyd (Eric Christian Olsen) and Harry (Derek Richardson) meet by literally running into each other on the way to high school. Lloyd is the adopted son of the school custodian, and Harry is a sheltered, momma's boy who has been homeschooled until now by mom (Mimi Rogers). Soon they've been tricked by crooked principal Collins (Eugene Levy) to form a special-ed class so the principal can pocket the earmarked funds and run off to buy a condo in Hawaii with his hot love Miss Heller (Cheri Oteri) the food services lady.

Harry falls for snoopy, classy school newspaper reporter Jessica (Rachel Nichols) who is out to expose the principal's plot. There are chases, misunderstandings and lots of crude and silly jokes until everything works out.

Sometimes you shouldn't mess with perfection. This is one of those times. Granted, the original Dumb and Dumber wasn't full of class and upper crust humor but we laughed because the characters, in the masterful hands of Carrey and Daniels, were just naturally hilarious and the story was, at least sort of original. In trying to present a younger version of Harry and Lloyd without the Farrelly brothers creating and directing, the filmmakers end up with an earnest effort on the young actors' part, but a poor imitation of the charm that made the first film a hit.

There are a few funny moments like a game of "tag" in a convenience store and some silly chase action and a moment when Harry is practicing several versions of what he'll say to his lady love...when she is standing right there that are worth a chuckle. But there is a poo joke that tries to play on the original film's Jeff Daniels toilet scene and it doesn't work nearly as well.

Since the principal's idea of making money is to set up a fake "special needs" class, the film really makes fun of real mentally-challenged kids, intentionally or not. The movie boasts a really good supporting cast, Eugene Levy (so good in Bringing Down the House and the American Pie films), Cheri Oteri (one of the best players on "Saturday Night Live"), and the talented Luis Guzman as Lloyd's dad, who are pretty much wasted in silly scenes that go nowhere. Some plot devices make no sense at all. Why would the principal (Levy) keep a huge chest of incriminating evidence documenting all his illegal schemes throughout the years? He's not supposed to be a total moron (that job falls to the Dumberer duo).

I'd give a nod to two young actors who tried their hardest to embody characters made famous by two established, talented predecessors but, if you want to see Harry and Lloyd, be smarterer and go rent the original film.