THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412220719
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
WHEN DOES DUMB become too dumb?
Check out ``Dumb and Dumber.'' There are scenes, in abundance, that go over the top. Of course, if you buy a ticket to a movie with a title like this, you should know what you're getting. The producers, in effect, have written their own review and will reap the consequent box office results. The secret to the movie's success is that everyone, particularly 10-year-old children, can feel superior to it.
Just when the Beavis and Butt-Head plague had about died out, along comes Lloyd and Harry. Lloyd is played by America's current loonybird, Jim Carrey, a guy who, I'll admit, made me laugh as Ace Ventura, the pet detective. The guy is talented. Most notably, he's not shy. But if he doesn't get a real movie soon, he may wear out that rubber face of his.
His impersonations of Jerry Lewis are getting a bit repetitive.
But ``Dumb and Dumber'' will not slow his meteoric rise. He knows his franchise and he caters to it with all possible energy.
With a bowl haircut and a chipped tooth, he lets us know his IQ in the very first scene. He mistakes a woman's Austrian accent for a New Jersey accent. When she tells him it's Austrian, he retorts ``G'day mate'' and yacks about putting another shrimp on the barbie. This is about as close to sophisticated patter as we get.
What follows are endless potty jokes. We have fart jokes, diarrhea jokes, urine jokes, belch jokes and so it goes. There's a bit about removing nose hair and a bit about trimming toenails.
Carrey is a one-man show, but someone had to tag along, and Jeff Daniels, an actual actor, got the lackluster assignment. Daniels flopped with a noble effort on Broadway a year ago and seems to be getting his revenge, and money, by taking the low road. About all he has to do is mess up his hair and slop about. He does have one funny bit - an impolite snow fight with Lauren Holly, known heretofore only as the deputy on TV's ``Picket Fences.''
The boys, traveling in a vehicle that is done up to look like a doggie, are on the way to Aspen, Colo., to return a briefcase stuffed with $1 million. Two killers trail them. The so-called ``plot'' is negligible.
Little kids, very little kids, will love it in the same way they loved Ernest, Ace Ventura and Uncle Buck - because they love seeing adults make fools of themselves. But the film is justifiably rated PG-13. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
NEW LINE CINEMA
Jim Carrey's bowl haircut and chipped tooth are a clue to his IQ in
``Dumb and Dumber.''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Dumb or Dumber''
Cast: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly,
Director and Writer: Peter Farrelly
Screenplay: Peter Farrelly, Bennett Yellin and Bobby Farrelly
MPAA rating: PG-13 (off-color, bathroom humor)
Mal's rating: One 1/2 stars
Locations: Greenbrier and Movies 10 in Chesapeake; Circle 6 and
Main Gate in Norfolk; Columbus, Lynnhaven Mall and Surf-N-Sand in
Virginia Beach
by CNB