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Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd: Platinum Series
At the end of the Sex Pistols' last show of their aborted 1978 U.S. tour, Johnny Rotten (né Lydon) uttered the phrase "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" and effectively killed the group (until the "Too much money to say no to" reunion tour). After all, bassist Sid Vicious was smacked-out, and the band a pale imitation of its brief glory days in London. It's not much different than enduring Dumb and Dumberer (2003), the in-character-names-only prequel to the successful 1994 Farrelly brothers comedy Dumb and Dumber. Eric Christen Olsen tries to fill Jim Carrey's shoes as Lloyd Christmas, while Derek Richardson attempts to channel Jeff Daniels' Harry Dunne. The story begins by illustrating the boys' home lives — Lloyd Christmas is the adopted son of high school janitor Ray (Luis Guzman), while Harry is the only son of his single mother (Mimi Rogers). From the moment the two meet as they head off to high school, they become instant kin, apparently cut from the same felt. And when Principal Collins (Eugene Levy) needs to institute a special-education program to get a government grant (for purposes of embezzlement), Harry and Lloyd become his surrogate students; Collins also sends them out to recruit others for the class. Aiding the principal is his object of lust, lunch-lady Ms. Heller (Cheri Oteri), but when student-journalist Jessica (Rachel Nichols) realizes what's going on, she sees a good story — and to get the story she gets closer to Harry, who falls for her. Many of the catchphrases and set pieces from Dumb and Dumber are recreated or spun slightly different here (there's a toilet gag that involves Harry covering the bathroom in brown stuff, only for the reveal to be that it's chocolate, which itself is a recycling of a Caddyshack gag), but alas, it only reminds the viewer how much funnier it was the first time. Olsen and Richardson are stuck with an unenviable task of trying to capture the spirits of much more talented performers, so it seems much of the blame lays on the shoulders of co-writer and director Troy Miller, who also botched up the Mr. Show vehicle Run Ronnie Run. Though there are solid supporting players in some bit parts, the core of the film is a black hole of cribbed jokes from the original installment. Cheated, indeed. New Line presents Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd in a Platinum Edition with an anamorphic transfer (1.85:1) and body Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 Surround audio. A loaded special edition, the release includes a commentary from Miller and stars Olsen and Richardson, the featurette "Casting the Perfect Dummies" (25 min.), the featurette "Dumb and Dangerous" (18 min.), 21 minutes of cut scenes with optional commentary (one featuring a Luis Guzman musical number which is better imagined than watched, though Guzman shows he has some moves), eight minutes of outtakes that seem a slightly extended version of the ones that play during the end credits, a bunch of faux supplements (Feel tired? Watch the "Pillow Version." Feeling zippy? Watch the whole film in 90 seconds through the "Jiffy Mode"), and numerous Easter eggs (readily identifiable as eggs on the menu). Keep-case.
—DSH
