Meewella | Critic

According to P

Tag: Jeff Daniels

QuickView: Dumb and Dumber To (2014)

Dumb and Dumber To poster

“Hey, Har. You wanna hear the second most annoying sound in the world?”

Lloyd Christmas

I have a soft spot for Dumb and Dumber, a stupid movie elevated by loveable losers played with charm by Carrey and Daniels, and a creative script that contrived situations in which Harry and Lloyd might appear competent to others. I avoided the prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd after hearing its only redeeming feature was how much Eric Christian Olsen looked like a young Jim Carrey. When this sequel was announced, I was tentatively optimistic with the return of Carrey and Daniels, the Farrelly brothers directing and the clever, grammatically infuriating title. I should not have been. Gone is the characters’ charm in favour of pure narcissism, whilst the script is content to revel in idiocy and vulgarity — the original indulged in scatological humour but Dumb and Dumber To is as consistently unfunny a “comedy” as I have sat through in recent memory. The opening scene serves as a warning: it shows that Lloyd has done literally nothing in the twenty years since the last film. He may not have changed but we have, and the film’s undercurrent of mild misogyny is unwelcome — it does acknowledge that the characters are in the wrong, yet still wants us somehow to find them endearing. To their credit, Carrey and Daniels fall seamlessly back into their roles and seem to be enjoying themselves. The road trip plot, which lazily mirrors the original with less flair, is at least coherent. Everything else is dumb and disappointing.

3/10

QuickView: State of Play (2009)

State of Play quad poster

“Do you have a pen?”

Cal McAffrey

Political thriller State of Play deserves credit foremost for successfully trimming down a five-hour BBC miniseries into a coherent two-hour film. The result is dense with exposition and can feel rushed, but that also adds to a sense of urgency. The investigative journalist perspective now feels almost nostalgic, reminiscent of All The President’s Men. A high calibre cast compensates for a lack of character development, and I wish Helen Mirren’s editor had more screen time. Whilst the interplay between The Globe’s ailing print edition and rising online presence is already antiquated a decade on, the lucrative domestic expansion of military contractors remains just as relevant.

8/10

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

(CC) BY-NC 2003-2023 Priyan Meewella

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