A 20-years-later sequel to Dumb and Dumber (1994), To received mostly negative, frequently scathingly terrible reviews, though also some positive ones, including a few from critics who dared suggest it was even funnier than the original. I'm not particularly a fan of either Jim Carrey or The Farrelly Brothers, co-directors and co-writers Bobby and Peter Farrelly, but I thought the original Dumb and Dumber had plenty of big belly-laughs. Dumb and Dumber To is essentially more of the same. It's neither as fresh nor surprising as the first one - that would have been impossible - but the guffaw quotient is still pretty high, perhaps a notch or two below the first one, but still respectably funny.

Somewhat unusual for a direct (if long-in-gestation) sequel, To was released theatrically by Universal, whereas the original film was a Warner Bros. release. The Blu-ray is up to contemporary high-def standards, and includes the usual sorts of extra features.

Terminally stupid Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) has been in a catatonic state, committed to a mental institution, ever since his romance with Mary Swanson fizzled spectacularly 20 years before. Loyal dingbat pal Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) has been visiting him every day, going so far as to regularly change Lloyd's diapers and wipe Lloyd's soiled butt.

But when Harry confesses to Lloyd that he's going to have to stop visiting because he's in desperate need of a kidney transplant, Lloyd suddenly springs to life, confessing that this breakdown has been nothing more than a supremely elaborate practical joke.

The duo search for an appropriate donor. Harry stumbles upon a heretofore-unread postcard from 1991, from old girlfriend Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner), informing Harry that she's pregnant and needs his help. Realizing that Fraida's now-adult offspring would solve Harry's kidney trouble, they begin searching for Harry's daughter, Fanny, whom Fraida gave up for adoption when she was born.

They find the couple that adopted her in Maryland. Esteemed Dr. Bernard Pinchelow (Steve Tom) and his younger wife, Adele (Laurie Holden) have dispatched dim-witted but attractive Fanny, now called Penny (Rachel Melvin), to a KEN Convention in El Paso to accept an award and deliver an acceptance speech on behalf of her reclusive father. When she forgets a package, an invention (or something) worth billions Pinchelow intends to unveil at the convention with no claim on its patents, Adele suggests Lloyd and Harry deliver it for them. She's been having an affair with houseman Travis (Rob Riggle) and plotting with Travis to kill Pinchelow for his millions. Further, she proposes killing Lloyd and Harry and stealing the invaluable, mysterious package.

Dumb and Dumber To is gleefully tasteless. Nothing is sacred: the blind, the elderly and infirm, mental illness, funeral homes, organ transplants. One very funny bit has Lloyd and Harry getting into an altercation with a Stephen Hawking-type wheelchair-bound scientist using a voice synthesizer. The difference between Dumb and Dumber To and other similarly broad, outrageous films is that Carrey, Daniels, and the Farrelly Bros. clearly understand the mechanics of film comedy. The material may be crude and tasteless, but it's expressed with carefully considered phrasing and mostly excellent timing. Possibly proof of this is one bit involving a speeding train, hinting that the Farrelly Bros. at least had some awareness of Buster Keaton's One Week. Fundamentally, they understand how to shoot a gag like it and make it work.

Of course, Dumb and Dumber To is more Bowery Boys than Buster. Lloyd and Harry even speak with the same sorts of malapropisms that Leo Gorcey twisted into borderline incoherence. Carrey and Daniels are so immersed in their characters that potentially deadly jokes usually come off well. Harry: "Whoa, Lloyd. Check out the hotties at 12 o'clock!" Lloyd: "That's three hours away. Why can't I check them out now?"

Video & Audio

Dumb and Dumber To is presented in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. Both picture and sound are up to contemporary technical standards, as they should be. The English audio, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, is appropriately robust, and DTS 5.1 DTS tracks are offered in French, German, Castilian and Latin Spanish also, with subtitles in those languages as well. The disc is region-free and includes a DVD and digital copies also.

Extra Features

Supplements are the usual sort for this kind of big-budget studio film: an alternate opening; deleted and extended scenes; a gag reel; and a multi-part featurettes, most under the heading "That's Awesome: The Story of Dumb and Dumber To." All of these supplements are in high-def.

Parting Thoughts

Entirely contingent on one's tolerance and taste toward tastelessness, Dumb and Dumber To nonetheless is a pretty good, escapist comedy, with a fair number of honestly earned laughs. Recommended.

Stuart Galbraith IV is the Kyoto-based film historian and publisher-editor of World Cinema Paradise. His credits include film history books, DVD and Blu-ray audio commentaries and special features.