Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 17, 1994 TAG: 9412200023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In recent years, subgenius humor has brought us Bill and Ted and Wayne and Garth. Now, Lloyd and Harry set a new low, though it appears that their real cinematic forebears are SCTV's McKenzie brothers. They share that peculiar Northern nerdiness. Notably lacking is any sense of likability. These characters are adult children who throw tantrums and love bathroom humor.
The film opens in Providence, RI, where Lloyd (Jim Carrey), a limo driver, falls in love at first sight with Mary (Lauren Holly) as he drives her to the airport. She catches a flight to Aspen, but he manages to snag her mysterious briefcase.
His best friend Harry (Jeff Daniels) is a pet groomer who has covered his van with carpeting to make it look like a sheepdog. When they're both fired on the same day, they decide to return the briefcase. Though they're not sure where Aspen is - California or France, they think - they hit the road anyway, with bumbling bad guys in pursuit.
Most of the jokes in the script by director Peter Farrelly, Bennett Yellin and Bobby Farrelly have to do with bodily fluids and substances, and their heroes' stupidity. Humor based on ignorance and slow wits almost has to be deliberately paced, so the film never develops any narrative momentum. By comparison, any given 10 minutes of a "Naked Gun" or "Airplane" comedy have more attempted jokes than all of "Dumb and Dumber."
The film never works as a road picture, either. The landscapes are dull and there's no sense of place, even in Aspen.
To be fair, a few of the throwaway lines are snappy, and something about a van that looks like a big dog is inherently funny, but that's about it. Carrey simply doesn't have much material to work with here. Without the crazy excesses of "The Mask," he's reduced to doing a second-rate Jerry Lewis imitation.
As for Jeff Daniels, his performance is every bit as unrestrained as his costar's. That's hardly a recommendation.
Dumb and Dumber 1/2*
A New Line release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Mall 6. 102 min. Rated PG-13 for graphic bathroom humor (accomplished mostly through sound).
by CNB