Dumb and Dumber/Dumb & Dumber (1994) - The Farrellys brothers and Carrey/Daniels' comedy classic

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+ Best Colorado Movie of the Year + Best Road Movie of the Year 

You'd have to have a pretty cold heart not to smile or guffaw at the poster for Bobby & Peter Farrelly's Dumb and Dumber

QUICK REVIEW:

Best friends and fellow idiots Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas are fired from their jobs and share a dream of starting a worm store. But without any future prospects beyond this, they decide to return the 'forgotten' suitcase of a hot lady who Lloyd just met to Aspen, Colorado.

Dumb and Dumber is a crazy-funny movie that's coarse and has a couple of the stupidest characters the silver screen has ever produced, and yet the film manages to tell of their misadventure in an actually smart way, which is quite an accomplishment.
Jeff Daniels (101 Dalmatians (1996)) and Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)) throw themselves into their characters and the quest with great enthusiasm, and Carrey is totally fantastic. Dumb and Dumber is a generally extremely funny, memorable, well-made and chipper comedy.
It is also the hugely successful debut of great Pennsylvanian writer/director brothers Bobby & Peter Farrelly (Kingpin (1996)).

Related reviews:
 
Peter & Bobby Farrelly: Dumb and Dumber To (2014) or, Harry and Lloyd: Still Dumb and Lovin' It!  
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Hall Pass (2011) - The Farrelly brothers' probably worst film to date 

1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in Bobby & Peter Farrelly's Dumb and Dumber

 Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: 17 mil. $
Box ofice: 247.2 mil. $
=  Huge hit
[Dumb and Dumber was released December 16 and runs 107 minutes. The film's location scenes were shot in Utah, Colorado and Rhode Island. Carrey's chipped tooth is not an effect: He had his tooth chipped in a boyhood tussle and wears a crown on it normally. Carrey, fresh off the giant success of Ace Ventura, was paid 7 mil. $ to appear in Dumb and Dumber; Daniels, whom New Line Cinema didn't want and tried to scare off, was paid a measly 50k $, in what must be one of the most outrageous wage differences between starring actors in the same film. Dumb and Dumber opened #1 in North America to 16.3 mil. $ and grossed 127.1 mil. $ (51.4 % of the total gross) there. The film got mixed reviews, (Roger Ebert awarded it a measly 2 stars), and Carrey was, outrageously, Razzie-nominated as Worst New Star. The movie topped the holiday season of the year and has spun an animated series, a prequel and a 2014 sequel. Carrey developed a relationship with his love interest in the film played by Lauren Holly (After the Ball (2015)), and they were married for less than a year between 1996-97. Dumb and Dumber is fresh at 66 % with a 5.9 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Dumb and Dumber?

Dumb and Dumber To (2014) or, Harry and Lloyd: Still Dumb and Lovin' It!

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They're back! In Peter and Bobby Farrelly's Dumb and Dumber To

20 years after the original Dumb and Dumber (1994), a modern comedy classic, its creators (and four (!) other writers) have summoned the two stars for another really dumb adventure:

Lloyd (Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)) has been in a mental institution for the last 20 years, where his pal Harry (Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale (2005)) has taken care of him. - But it was all just an elaborate (and very lengthy) joke! Harry needs a new kidney, so when they learn that he has a daughter who has been given away for adoption, they head out to find her and get him one of her kidneys.

This loony plot doesn't really lead anywhere, although there is an amusing tail to the dedicated pointlessness at hand in Dumb and Dumber To. It takes quite a while before it really gets started, and then it's not an exciting plot in any way, more just an excuse for all the goofiness that ensues. A MacGuffin pack is introduced along with a slew of other more of less confusing ideas that are wrapped around a continuous row of gags, quite a few of them funny, if you just relax and get into the redonkulous mood of the film.
I saw it in a packed theater with lots of kids, who couldn't control themselves laughing at the hilarities of Harry and Lloyd. It raised the atmosphere (as kids' laughter tends to), even if I thought to myself that the kids might have exploded with laughter, if they had run the original film instead by mistake.
Carrey is giving it his all as usually, and as does Daniels, even though the years have obviously been rougher on him. He has really red eyes through much of the film, which got me speculating if he might be high while acting here. - It's hard to tell, because the characters are so idiotic in themselves, but I definitely wouldn't rule out the possibility.

The details:

The trailer for Dumb and Dumber To seemed to dispel the relative innocence of the original with a very vulgar humor replacing it. I was glad to find that that wasn't exactly the case. - Sure To is vulgar and coarse, but not overly so, I thought. Mostly it's just incredibly silly. Some of the funniest things in the film, I thought, are the fantasy scenes.
The film has Laurie Holden (The Mist (2007)) and a refreshing, self-mocking Kathleen Turner (Romancing the Stone (1984)) in supporting roles.
It has been slaughtered by most critics, but it is far from as bad as they say. Dumb and Dumber To is far from greatness, but it is a decent goofball comedy from the modern masters of that kind of comedy, brothers Peter & Bobby Farrelly (Kingpin (1996)).

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 169.8 mil. $ and counting
= Box office success
[The success of this sequel was not at all a sure thing, the studios felt: Warner Bros. declined to make it, although they made heaps from the original. Independent company Red Granite finally financed it. And as it turned out, lots of people were ready to catch up with more Dumb and Dumber: Opening first in the US, the film was Carrey's biggest hit since Bruce Almighty (2003) and even bested the original. The film has done very well in many other countries as well.]

What do you think of Dumb and Dumber To?
What is the Farrelly Brothers' best film in your opinion and why?

Black Sheep (1996) - Maybe Chris Farley's funniest movie

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+ Best Crazy-Comedy of the Year 

Chris Farley and David Spade on the hilarity-promising poster for Penelope Spheeris' Black Sheep

QUICK REVIEW:

Here we have an ambitious gubernatorial candidate, whose fat, lead-footed brother so wants to help him out. So he pegs out a campaign worker to ensure that things stay under control as his brother 'helps out'. But pretty soon, damage control is the only kind of control that they can pursue.

Chris Farley is physically astonishing, in Penelope Spheeris' Black Sheep

Chris Farley (Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)) shows himself as a minor comical genius in the discipline of physical comedy here. Unfortunately, David Spade (Grown Ups (2010)) is totally inadequate as his weirdly wimpy 'buddy'.
Black Sheep is an over-the-top, overly happy, silly 90's comedy. Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon (1987)) and Tim Matheson (Animal House (1978)) are both in it as well and are both alright.
This laugh-fest contains many funny and crazy scenes.
There is much disagreement over the movie, though: Some consider it much worse than the buddy couple's previous, similar comedy, Tommy Boy (1995), but I think Black Sheep is far superior. It's far crazier, faster and has far more laughs.
The production of Black Sheep was troubled to say the least: A Paramount hired gig that no-one were very enthusiastic about, apparently, - which seems incredible when you see the film, - was made with a director, Penelope Spheeris (Wayne's World (1992)), who had a very bad relationship with one of the leads, diva Spade, who even claims to have gotten a permanent eye hyper-sensitivity to light-condition during the filming. Spheeris also had big problems with the film's writer Fred Wolf (Grown Ups 2 (2013)) whom she fired three times and eventually banned from the set.
All these facts almost only make the film even more legendary and incredible. - I should also mention that both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert hated, - really HATED, - Black Sheep.
It all just goes to say ... if you haven't already, - WATCH Black Sheep!

 

Related post:

 

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

If this trailer doesn't make you laugh, don't watch Black Sheep ... And go to a mirror and look long and hard in it, because what kind of a person are you?!?

Budget: Unknown
Box office: 32.4 mil. $ (US only)
= A hit

What do you think of Black Sheep?
And of Chris Farley, David Spade and Farley's other movies?

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) or, Nuts in Africa

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Jim Carrey shines on the spectacular poster for Steve Oederkerk's Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Pet detective Ace has retreated to a Tibetan monastery, because he has been involved in the death of a raccoon, when an assignment concerning a kidnapped bat in Africa again reawakens his instincts.

Even though the story of this sequel about the repulsive, white colonialists and the ignorant, indigenous Africans probably is possibly somehow a quite truthful brew-down of newer, African history, Ace 2 is a disappointment.
So much of the film is joke re-runs from the 1994 original comedy masterpiece by Tom Shadyac, (the two are just 1½ year apart), and Jim Carrey's (Dumb and Dumber To (2014)) titular role is written this time with an excessive attention paid to his hysterical outlets. Gone is the spoofed detective/crime genre angle, as well as an inventive, hilarious plot, - When Nature Calls is pure cartoon comedy.
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls is written and directed by filmmaker Steve Oedekerk (Smart Alex (1987)).

Related posts:

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) - Shadyac's 6th gear Jim Carrey smacker

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 212.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 7.07 times its cost)
[Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls premiered 8 November (Los Angeles, California) and runs 94 minutes. Carrey obtained creative control and changed out initial director Tom Decerchio (Celtic Pride (1996)) with his own friend and debuting director Oederkerk. Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich (1999)), who later turned out to become a master filmmaker, wanted to direct the film but was turned down by Carrey who later regretted it. Shooting took place in South Carolina, Texas and in British Columbia, Canada, from March - July 1995. Carrey was paid 10 mil. $ for his performance. The film opened #1 to a 37.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5) and grossed 108.3 mil. $ (51 % of the total gross). Oederkerk returned wit Nothing to Lose (1997). Carrey returned in The Cable Guy (1996). Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls is rotten at 33 % with a 4.01/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls?

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) - Shadyac's 6th gear Jim Carrey smacker

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+ Best Movie of the Year

+ Best American Movie of the Year + Best Animal Movie of the Year + Breakthrough of the Year: Jim Carrey + Best Comedy of the Year + Best Debut of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year + Best Florida Movie of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Most Underrated Movie of the Year

Star Jim Carrey brazenly flashing his card, in ridonkulous garbs, on the iconic poster for Tom Shadyac's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

When US football team the Miami Dolphins' mascot, a real dolphin, gets kidnapped shortly before the team's Super Bowl finale, pet detective Ace Ventura is put on the case, and he works it with zeal and his special brand of not exactly self-effacing charm.

Jim Carrey (Kids (2014, short)) shines as a jet-fueled star in his first lead role as the comic genius that he is. There simply isn't a single bad or semi-bad scene in Virginian master co-writer/director Tom Shadyac's (Liar Liar (1997)) overwrought, tight goofball-comedy Ace Ventura, which is his debut. The film radiates playful, light-hearted inventiveness in its use of music, costumes, hair design and storyline, which is funny on its own and hysterically funny with Carrey's performance plastered all over it. Shadyac wrote the script with Carrey and Jack Bernstein (Monk (2006-09)).
He has once shared that he found during a dinner with Anthony Hopkins that he had played Hannibal Lector much like Carrey had played Ventura: By moving like an animal. (In Hopkins' case, it had been like a reptile.) And if you've seen Ace Ventura, you'll probably be able to guess that in Carrey's case, he moved like a bird. (Thank God fellow Canadian Rick Moranis turned down the part as Ventura, so that Carrey got the offer; Moranis would surely never have gotten these moves out.)
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a comedy classic, and together with The Cable Guy (1996), it is arguably Carrey's funniest movie.

Related posts:

 

The inevitable sequel: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) or, Nuts in Africa

Tom Shadyac: 2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Evan Almighty (2007) - Shadyac's monumentally miscalculated sequel/professional gravestone (hope not) 

Bruce Almighty (2003) - Carrey makes laughter in well-made what-if-you-were-God-comedy

1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 107.2 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 7.14 times its cost)
[Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was released 4 February (USA) and runs 86 minutes. Moranis was offered the part but turned it down; Whoopi Goldberg, Judd Nelson and Alan Rickman were then considered, before the producers noticed Carrey and cast him. Shooting took place in Florida, including Miami, from May - July 1993. The film opened #1 to a 12.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 5 weeks in the top 5, of which another 2 were as #1, (#1-#2-#2-#1-#3), and grossed 72.2 mil. $ (67.4 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 6 notches lower than this one. Carrey in 1994 went from being virtually unknown to becoming the world's #2 box office star, behind Tom Hanks, as his 3 1994 movies Ace Ventura, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber grossed 550 mil. $. Steve Oederkerk made the direct sequel, the very successful but mediocre Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). A 1995-00 animated TV-series and a 2009 direct-to-video spin-off sequel have been made, both without involvement from any of the principals. Shadyac returned with The Nutty Professor (1996). Carrey returned in The Mask (1994). Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is rotten at 47 % with a 4.55/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective?