This film should come with some prominent disclaimers. First, this is not a movie by the Farrelly brothers who directed “Dumb and Dumber,” the 1994 comedy classic starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.
Next, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels are NOT starring in the movie. This film is a prequel, following Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne as they meet in high school, so younger actors have been tapped to play our favorite morons.
The film finds Lloyd and Harry starting their senior year of high school. Lloyd’s dad is the school janitor so Lloyd lives at the school. Harry has been home schooled for years so he’s finally joining the real world. They’re soon spotted by the school’s corrupt principle (Eugene Levy), who uses them to start up a bogus “Special Needs” class so he can embezzle the $100,000 grant that comes with the program.
Living up to the original is impossible, but a good script could have made this a very funny movie, especially considering that Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson don’t do a bad job of portraying Lloyd and Harry. Olsen is particularly good at capturing the facial expressions and mannerisms used by Jim Carrey to play Lloyd in the original. Newcomer Rachel Nichols also adds some nice eye candy to the film with a fine performance as Jessica, a smart student reporter who is suspicious of the new class. Hopefully we’ll see more of Rachel in future films.
Unfortunately, the script sucks. Most of the gags just don’t work. The only exception is a bathroom scene involving Harry at Jessica’s house. It’s just as funny and gross as the bathroom scene from the original. Other than that and a few funny lines, however, the rest of the film isn’t worth your time.
1.5 / 5 Stars
Starring: Eric Christian Olsen, Derek Richardson, Rachel Nichols, Eugene Levy
Director: Troy Miller
