Dumb & Dumber - The clue is in the title

I remember when Jeff Daniels was doing interviews for ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ he stated that he had to mentally ‘dumb himself down’ when preparing himself for the role of Harry.  I think that’s what anyone contemplating watching 'Dumb and Dumber' needs to do in order to appreciate it.

Okay, so Jim Carey is the star (Lloyd) and he and his equally-clueless best mate Harry (Jeff Daniels) set off on a road trip across America in order to return what they think is a missing briefcase to its rightful owner.  Little do they know they they've just become part of a kidnapping plot and find themselves being pursued by everyone from gangsters to the police and FBI (not that they actually realise the scale of their actions because they're too - you guessed it - dumb!  So, basically it’s a ‘road movie.’ Now, by definition road movies are pretty ‘low on plot.’ The ‘story’ is simply the two dumb guys moving from one daft setting to the next.  Yes, it is low on story.  But it is pretty damn funny.  And isn’t that the main thing?

It was made at the height of Jim Carey’s fame, therefore he was somehow still fresh.  If you’re looking for low-brow humour then you’ll find what you’re looking for here.  Yes, it won’t tax you mentally and, by the time the credits roll, you may actually be thinking with a few less IQ points.  However, if you’re prepared to trade a few brain cells in for a lot of laughs then you’ve come to the right place.

I remember my mum hating this film as she simply found the two main characters 'too annoying' to be appreciated.  They're hardly the types that you could consider able to 'relate,' to, but I like to think they're there merely to entertain us.  No one's asking us to spend any time with them in real life (otherwise we'd probably end up wanting to kill them like the assassins on screen!).

It's a simple find with a simple premise about - of course - 'simple' characters.  The two leads carry it perfectly and are a joy to watch interact.  Every secondary character is - obviously - never as good, but provide the two stars with plenty of set-up situations for their gags.  A true nineties comedy gem.

Plus it has the best 'dead bird laugh' since Monty Python’s parrot.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one