MasterChugs Theater: 'Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd'
Back when I reviewed Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, I made a statement that "there are some movies that make their audience treasure the life that they have ... [some] movies [that] make us laugh ... others [that] have been known to renew our faith" and some that make "the audience go 'THAT WAS [CENSORED] INCREDIBLE!.'" I really need to make an amendment to that, as there's yet another category for movies: ones that are clearly used as weapons of mass destruction. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd most assuredly falls into that category.
The premise is every bit as dim-witted as its lead characters, Lloyd Christmas (Eric Christian Olsen) and Harry Dunne (Derek Richardson). After literally knocking into each other, Lloyd and Harry meet on the first day of the new school year and, with their intelligence (or lack thereof) equaling each other's, they become quick comrades. They are instantly elected into a year-long "special needs" class headed by Principal Collins (Eugene Levy) and his daffy girlfriend, school lunch lady Ms. Heller (Cheri Oteri), and soon have enrolled a rag-tag group of lazy teen misfits to join them. What Harry and Lloyd fail to realize, and lovely school reporter Jessica Matthews (Rachel Nichols) suspects, is that their new class is nothing more than a scam by Principal Collins and Ms. Heller to swindle money from a charity fundraiser.
If you concentrate hard enough while watching Dumb and Dumberer (and avoid a migraine or brain damage in the process), you can find something that resembles a plot. It's clear that the filmmakers didn't expect sentient life in the audience, because they didn't put any thought into the storyline. The screenplay, which appears to be in rough draft form, contains some monumentally glaring inconsistencies and discontinuities, but no one is supposed to notice those things, and, in the unlikely event that they do, they're not supposed to mention them. A little comedy can go a long way towards forgiving such laziness, but the movie doesn't have a clue about the basic concept of humor.
Not only do most of the jokes fall flat (sometimes because the timing is off, but often because they're not funny), but there are countless missed opportunities. Dumb and Dumberer's biggest laughs are likely to come when a character runs around yelling fecal epithets seven or eight times, although most people outgrow snickering at bad words when they graduate from grammar school. And, when a movie can neuter a comedian of Eugene Levy's considerable skill, you know that the filmmakers are displaying a monumental level of ineptitude. Levy is so flat that, watching his "performance," I was embarrassed for him.
In some ways, it is a shame. Eric Christian Olsen really works his HARDEST to do a kick ass impression of Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas. His first scene, in which we are deluged with out-of-time Vanilla Ice music is hilarious, and is the one of only two places in the movie where one might believe it is good. The other, is a scene ripped from the book of Back to the Future goodness, in which Lloyd and Harry race through town in a shopping cart, hanging onto the backs of cars in Marty McFly skateboard style jiving to a groovy 80's "Eye of the Tiger" beat.
On the other hand, his partner, Harry, played by Derek Richardson, is not in this film. Oh there's this kid named Harry, and Derek Richardson plays him, but other than a semi-funny scene in the bathroom spreading poop, he doesn't really have anything to do. Lots of screen time is given, but very little of it amounted to anything I haven't already forgotten. He's a mannequin, an air pocket, the Paul Walker of comedy. I really don't like Paul Walker.
Whereas Dumb and Dumber was not only a well-written "stupid" comedy, it was also kind of sweet in its scenes with love interest Lauren Holly. Dumb and Dumberer is just plain moronic, holding its audience in contempt and expecting them to be as brain-deficient as Harry and Lloyd by not realizing a bad movie when they see one. Luckily, at only 83 minutes, it's over before it really has a chance to become unbearable. That is about the biggest compliment that could possibly be paid to Dumb and Dumberer. At least they got the title right. Oh god, how it hurts.
The premise is every bit as dim-witted as its lead characters, Lloyd Christmas (Eric Christian Olsen) and Harry Dunne (Derek Richardson). After literally knocking into each other, Lloyd and Harry meet on the first day of the new school year and, with their intelligence (or lack thereof) equaling each other's, they become quick comrades. They are instantly elected into a year-long "special needs" class headed by Principal Collins (Eugene Levy) and his daffy girlfriend, school lunch lady Ms. Heller (Cheri Oteri), and soon have enrolled a rag-tag group of lazy teen misfits to join them. What Harry and Lloyd fail to realize, and lovely school reporter Jessica Matthews (Rachel Nichols) suspects, is that their new class is nothing more than a scam by Principal Collins and Ms. Heller to swindle money from a charity fundraiser.
If you concentrate hard enough while watching Dumb and Dumberer (and avoid a migraine or brain damage in the process), you can find something that resembles a plot. It's clear that the filmmakers didn't expect sentient life in the audience, because they didn't put any thought into the storyline. The screenplay, which appears to be in rough draft form, contains some monumentally glaring inconsistencies and discontinuities, but no one is supposed to notice those things, and, in the unlikely event that they do, they're not supposed to mention them. A little comedy can go a long way towards forgiving such laziness, but the movie doesn't have a clue about the basic concept of humor.
Not only do most of the jokes fall flat (sometimes because the timing is off, but often because they're not funny), but there are countless missed opportunities. Dumb and Dumberer's biggest laughs are likely to come when a character runs around yelling fecal epithets seven or eight times, although most people outgrow snickering at bad words when they graduate from grammar school. And, when a movie can neuter a comedian of Eugene Levy's considerable skill, you know that the filmmakers are displaying a monumental level of ineptitude. Levy is so flat that, watching his "performance," I was embarrassed for him.
In some ways, it is a shame. Eric Christian Olsen really works his HARDEST to do a kick ass impression of Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas. His first scene, in which we are deluged with out-of-time Vanilla Ice music is hilarious, and is the one of only two places in the movie where one might believe it is good. The other, is a scene ripped from the book of Back to the Future goodness, in which Lloyd and Harry race through town in a shopping cart, hanging onto the backs of cars in Marty McFly skateboard style jiving to a groovy 80's "Eye of the Tiger" beat.
On the other hand, his partner, Harry, played by Derek Richardson, is not in this film. Oh there's this kid named Harry, and Derek Richardson plays him, but other than a semi-funny scene in the bathroom spreading poop, he doesn't really have anything to do. Lots of screen time is given, but very little of it amounted to anything I haven't already forgotten. He's a mannequin, an air pocket, the Paul Walker of comedy. I really don't like Paul Walker.
Whereas Dumb and Dumber was not only a well-written "stupid" comedy, it was also kind of sweet in its scenes with love interest Lauren Holly. Dumb and Dumberer is just plain moronic, holding its audience in contempt and expecting them to be as brain-deficient as Harry and Lloyd by not realizing a bad movie when they see one. Luckily, at only 83 minutes, it's over before it really has a chance to become unbearable. That is about the biggest compliment that could possibly be paid to Dumb and Dumberer. At least they got the title right. Oh god, how it hurts.
Labels: MasterChugs Theater
posted by Chris 'Chugs' Taylor at
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