|  Dumb
and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
— (negative) 3 Stars
Starring:
Derek Richardson and Eric Christian Olsen
Directed/co-written by: Troy Miller
Rated: A (asinine)
Bluntly speaking? The good thing - the only good thing - that came out
of this crapfest extravaganza Dumb and Dumberer is the realization that
I am still an optimist. I actually walked into the theater… adoration for
Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels stored neatly in the overhead compartment of my brain…and
settled in to give the new cast a chance. Of course the magic of Carrey and Daniels'
hit film Dumb and Dumber was in the undeniable talent behind the characters,
commingled with a brilliantly silly (but committed) script, written and directed
by humorologists The Farrelly Bros. (Peter and Bobby). Daniels and Carrey would
be a tough act to follow...poor kids.
Weeeelllllleeellllelll. Dear gawd
was this horrific. If ever a ka-ching sound resonated through a studio greedy
for a sequel (excuse me, prequel) of a billion dollar grossing flick it was when
the writer, Troy Miller, walked himself into the room and pitched this …er…story…no
no that's too strong a noun. This sketch. No no that's still too strong a noun.
This blundering waste of human creativity that makes a "Fun With Dick and
Jane" coloring book seem like a Pulitzer Prize winning novel.
The
story …(shudder) …introduces us to Harry Dunne (Derek Richardson) and
Lloyd Christmas (Eric Christian Olsen) in their teen-age years.
We meet
them at the birth of their friendship and watch as they form the infamous bond
we all remember from the funny movie this odious celluloid poo is based on…
The two are pulled into the evil (and rreetttaaahhhdddeeedddlllyyy stupid)
school principal's (Eugene Levy's) evil plan to bilk the school out of 100,000
dollars meant to fund a "Special Needs" class. He creates a mock special
needs class in order to finagle the grant.
The principle wants the ill-found
cashola to buy a condo in Hawaii. (Um? Hawaii? 100,000? Double DUH! You couldn't
get a 100,000 condo in east LA next to the dump and the writer thinks for a nanosecond
we think this palooka can get a condo in Hawaii for 100,000? Argh.)
Anyway,
so as the two inadvertently discover (or rather a fellow student discovers) and
exposes the principle as the shameful embezzler he is - we watch praying for the
credits to free us from this visual and audio torture. Of course Lloyd and Harry
are completely oblivious to any of the goings on throughout. Hardeehar har har.
Oh make it end...
The story is too asinine to waste one more second
typing a "scenario" capsule on and the actors simply mimic their famous
counter parts. I laughed aloud when I read in the press notes, director/ writer
Miller "told" Eric Christian Olsen specifically not to do a Jim Carrey
impersonation, but to capture that same innocent essence Lloyd had… yeah,
right - sure - it's the best damn Carrey impersonation I've ever seen.
How
exactly did they get Cheri Oteri, Eugene
Levy and Luiz Guzman (who gets one more clunker before
he's off the "talent to look for" list - I tell you!) or Mimi Rogers
to be involved in this? The script can't possibly even read funny. I mean there's
all those...words as a clue. Wasting
any more time on this review is dumberer than dumb. Avoid this like a theater
recently sprayed for vermin, big nuclear plutonium snorffing vermin that required
heavy duty canisters! Snack
recommendation: Everlasting Gobbstoppers© from
the concession stand on your way to another film… like say Finding Nemo
which is brilliant! 
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