Anthony's Film Review - Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)

The prequel to Dumb and Dumber is, unfortunately, dumb enough to dislike...

Dumb and Dumber was such an entertaining movie in 1994 that I expected a follow-up movie. What I hadn't expected, though, was a prequel. Not that it's a bad idea. It could potentially work. The big question is how well the stars of this movie, Derek Richardson and Eric Christian Olsen, can play younger versions of Harry and Lloyd, respectively, that Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey played nine years earlier. Actually, make that two questions. Can this movie hold itself together, given that this is a prequel to a comedy with crude humor (a type of movie that is usually flimsy to begin with)?

Let me address the first of those two questions. Richardson and Olsen, I must admit, are not as bad for the lead roles as I initially thought. They do look and act like the same characters that Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels played. I'll even go as far as to say that these two characters are not that annoying, because the actors aren't overacting or exaggerating themselves. Now, whether they are funny is up to each person who sees this movie. In my opinion, they are a tiny bit funny. Not unfunny, but definitely far below hysterical and hilarious.

In any event, I can't rate this movie positively, because of the other element that works less well: the plot. The problem is that the idea behind it is a bit uncreative. Basically, Harry and Lloyd are high school students in the 1980s who find themselves in a special needs class, which is held in uncomfortable places like the school cafeteria's kitchen or a tool shed. What they don't know is that the school's principal and lunch lady, who are romantically linked, are stealing money from the school for their own leisurely pursuits, and the special needs class is a scam in order to get more money that they can take for themselves.

So yeah, it's a farfetched plot. What's even more unconvincing is how one intelligent high school girl suspects something going on and plans to expose the embezzlement scheme. That's not to say it can't ever possibly happen. It's just obvious that it's contrived here, as if the screenwriter was desperate for something to fill the script that would act as a plot. And near the end of the movie, the resolution of the plot doesn't really feel all that climactic. Really, you have a thin story that is deliberately stretched just to fill a running time of one hour and 20 minutes.

With a plot that is underdeveloped and main characters who are only a tiny bit funny, Dumb and Dumberer is an underwhelming movie. I wouldn't say it's an unnecessary movie, because if it were done a whole lot better, it could be a nice complement to the 1994 comedy predecessor, given how Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson are sort of like a young Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. But as it stands, Dumb and Dumberer lives up to its title, which isn't good in this case.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of Dumb and Dumber and Dumb and Dumber To.