Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Lots and lots of you wrote in to tell me that the DUMB & DUMBERER trailer was up online now, and the majority of you seemed to really like what you saw. I’ll agree that the kid playing the young Jim Carrey is spooky, and the trailer’s got some laughs. Here’s how New Line describes the movie:
Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd - June 13th, 2003
This summer, for every outcast who has tried to fit in, comes the prequel to the hit Dumb & Dumber, which sees the triumphant return of lovable goofballs Harry and Lloyd. Now in their formative high school years, Harry and Lloyd must band together with a ragtag group of outsiders to try and crack "the big show," otherwise known as high school. Written by Robert Brener, the film is directed by Troy Miller (TV's "Mr. Show"). When Harry Met Lloyd: Dumb and Dumberer stars newcomers Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson in the title roles, paired with a veteran comedy ensemble that includes Eugene Levy (American Pie series), Luis Guzman (Punch-Drunk Love) and Mimi Rogers (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery). Also co-starring is newcomer Rachel Nichols.
CLICK RIGHT HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER IN A MULTITUDE OF SIZES!!
Now, here’s how one of our spies describes it:
Hi. I have submitted a review to you in the past on the Norm McDonald movie "Foolproof" using the pseudonym Wiking. I have just seen "Dumb and Dumberer" at the AMC 6 in Burbank, so here is my review of it.
According to the announcement made right before the movie, we were the first audience to see "Dumb and Dumberer". And we might have been the last. The movie just isn't funny. Sure, there are some laughs but not enough to make it worth your time, not to mention your money.
The plot of the movie is basic: Harry and Lloyd meet for the first time in high school, become friends, and spoil a plot by the principal of the school to embezzle funds. The movie repeated, with changes, some scenes from the original. Lloyd fantasizes about a girl again (and yes, a fart is involved in this dream sequence as well). Harry defiles yet another bathroom. They play "tag, you're it", this time extended to four scenes. And the movie ends with them turning down a tantalizing proposition by girls.
The humor in the movie doesn't follow the same ground rules as the original. There are several Airplane-style gags, by which I mean things come out of nowhere without making sense. There is a scene in which a school bus becomes airborne for several moments after going over a hill at high speed. The shot inside the bus is in slow-motion and has everyone and everything floating around as if in space. And one of the items is an icecream, in a glass cup no less. Instead of laughing I was wondering how it got on the bus. In addition, we hear Harry's and Lloyd's thoughts in two separate scenes. I was left with the impression that the writer couldn't convey how funny the scene was supposed to be and was forced to resort to the "thought balloons". And it still wasn't funny.
Some characters do things solely to confirm to the plot. The principal tapes everything that goes on in his office, like the planning of his embezzlement schemes with his lover, the lunch lady. He stores the tapes in a chest in his office, along with other incriminating papers. After Llyod absconds with the chest, the principal says something like "The evidence! It's gone!"
Perhaps nothing embodies the lameness of the movie as the musical number. I kid you not, there is a scene in which a character sings and dances to the duo how to go about dating girls. There is a lot of movement during the song, with the characters appearing in the school hallway, the gym, the library, and the chemistry lab (the latter just in time for the lyrics about chemical reactions).
The audience I was with didn't laugh much either. We mostly all laughed at the same scenes, but there were long stretches of silence. At one point someone in the audience started to sarcastically laugh real loud at every failed joke. If that doesn't convey just how hopelessly unfunny the movie is, nothing will. When the movie ended, the credits rolled side by side with movie outtakes. Sadly, they were not funny either. The only good thing I can say about the movie is that the actor playing Lloyd did a damn good impersonation of Jim Carrey.
On a side note, the papers we were handed out to rate the movie did not have Bob Saget's name in the cast list. His part was listed, but it had another name by it. Now that I think about it, I can't recall Bob Saget being in the same shot with anybody else. I could be wrong here, but maybe he was a late addition.
Wiking
I like Troy Miller, and after the raw deal he got on RUN RONNIE RUN, I certainly hope that this film is better than Wiking describes it. Still, it sounds like a pretty level-headed take on things. I guess we’ll see this June, eh?
Thanks for the review, Wiking.
"Moriarty" out.
