Dumb and Dumber (1994) * * *

Directed by:  Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly

Starring:  Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly

Yes, Harry and Lloyd are dumb.    This doesn't occur to them and thus are able to muddle through life optimistically, believing 100% in their own brilliance.     The bad guys that go up against them don't stand a chance.     Like Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies, it's tough to predict Harry and Lloyd's next move when they don't even know it themselves.     Because Dumb and Dumber chooses to approach things this way instead of with constant raunchy slapstick, it is a pretty funny movie.   

Harry and Lloyd are lifelong friends and roommates in Providence.    Harry (Daniels) runs a pet cleaning service and has turned his van into a giant sheepdog.   (You have see it to truly gain an understanding of this).    Lloyd (Carrey) is a limo driver who drives a nice pretty woman named Mary (Holly)  to the airport one day and falls in love.    The woman leaves behind her briefcase and Lloyd rearends another car trying in vain to get the briefcase to her.     He is fired from his job.   "Apparently they have a big problem with leaving the scene of an accident," he tells Harry as he recaps his day.   "I fell off the jetway again," he also says matter-of-factly.    

It turns out the briefcase is full of money for a ransom drop, which is unbeknownst to Harry and Lloyd as they set out on a cross-country trip to give the briefcase back.     They are trailed by thugs who want the money.    One of them recommends trashing their apartment to "send them a message."   The other responds, "I don't think they'll get the message.   They have a worm farm in the middle of their living room."    The money was to pay the ransom for Mary's kidnapped husband.   

I won't go into any further plot details because plot is immaterial in a comedy like this.    The laughs come from Harry and Lloyd's cluelessness.     Harry and Lloyd have a spat in the middle of the trip and part ways.    Lloyd returns with a very, very tiny motorcycle.    "I sold the dog van and got this,"  
Lloyd proudly says.    Harry replies, "Just when I think you can't be any stupider, you do something like this and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!"

Dumb and Dumber was released following Jim Carrey box-office smashes Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask.    I didn't like either of those films, mostly because Carrey's constant in-your-face style of comedy wore on my nerves quickly.    Here he plays more within a character and even defers some of the good laughs to Jeff Daniels.    This isn't the Jim Carrey Show with Daniels tagging along.    They make a good comic team.     Even the moments of raunch don't stray too out of control.     I especially loved Lloyd's fantasy that he is dating Mary and defends her honor in a martial-arts showdown with restaurant employees.     Somewhere in there, he lights a fart and dazzles an adoring Mary.    Only in Lloyd's world would that even be a possibility.