Dumb and Dumber

Dumb and Dumber
Theatrical release poster, parodying Forrest Gump
Directed by Peter Farrelly
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Todd Rundgren
Cinematography Mark Irwin
Edited by Christopher Greenbury
Production
companies
  • Katja Motion Picture Corporation[1]
  • Krevoy/Stabler/Wessler Production[2]
Distributed by New Line Cinema[1]
Release date
  • December 16, 1994 (1994-12-16)
Running time
 106 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $17 million[3]
Box office $247.3 million[4]

Dumb and Dumber is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly,[1][2] who co-wrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. Starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, it tells the story of Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels), two unintelligent but well-meaning friends from Providence, Rhode Island who set out on a cross-country trip to Aspen, Colorado to return a briefcase full of money to its owner, thinking it was abandoned as a mistake but was actually left as ransom money. Lauren Holly, Karen Duffy, Mike Starr, Charles Rocket, and Teri Garr play supporting roles.

The film was released on December 16, 1994. It grossed $247 million at the box office and has developed a cult following in the years since its release.[4][5] The success of Dumb and Dumber launched the career of the Farrelly brothers and solidified Carrey's.[6] The film also spawned an animated TV series, a 2003 prequel, and a 2014 sequel.

Plot

Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, two kindly but dimwitted men, are best friends and roommates living in Providence, Rhode Island. Lloyd, a chip-toothed limousine driver, immediately falls in love when he meets Mary Swanson, a woman he is driving to the airport. She leaves a briefcase in the terminal; Lloyd, unaware that it contains ransom money for her kidnapped husband, Bobby, and that she was supposed to leave it there for the kidnappers to pick up, retrieves the briefcase and tries to return it to her before the kidnappers can get it. However, Mary's Aspen-bound plane has already departed, which Lloyd finds out the hard way as he runs through and falls out of the jetway.

Fired from his job, Lloyd returns to his apartment and learns that Harry has also been fired from his dog-grooming job after delivering dogs late to a show and accidentally getting them dirty. Bobby's kidnappers, Joe "Mental" Mentalino and J. P. Shay, follow Lloyd home from the airport in pursuit of the briefcase. Mistaking the crooks for debt collectors, the duo flee the apartment and return later to find that Mental has decapitated Harry's parakeet. Lloyd suggests they head to Aspen to find Mary and return the briefcase, hoping she can "plug them into the social pipeline." Initially, Harry opposes the idea, but he eventually agrees and the duo leaves the next day.

Mental and Shay catch up to the duo at a motel that night. Posing as a hitchhiker, Mental is picked up by Harry and Lloyd while Shay secretly follows them. During a lunch stop, the duo prank Mental with chili peppers in his burger, not knowing of his ulcer. When Mental reacts adversely, they accidentally kill him with some rat poison pills (which he planned to use on them), mistaking them for his medication. Nearing Colorado, Lloyd takes a wrong turn and ends up driving all night through Nebraska, while the police waiting on the road to Colorado expect them to show up after finding out about Mental's death. Upon waking up and realizing Lloyd's mishap, Harry gives up on the journey and decides to walk home, but Lloyd later persuades him to continue after trading the van for a minibike.

The two arrive in Aspen, but are unable to locate Mary in the yellow pages, as Lloyd recalls her surname incorrectly. After a short scuffle over some gloves that night, the briefcase breaks open and they discover the money; they spend it for a hotel suite, clothes and a Lamborghini Diablo. They learn that Mary and her family are hosting a gala and prepare to attend. At the gala, Harry, attempting to lure Mary over to Lloyd, reluctantly agrees to go skiing with her the next day and lies to Lloyd that he got him a date. The next day, Lloyd finds out Harry lied to him after waiting all day for Mary at the hotel bar.

In retaliation, Lloyd pranks Harry by serving him a coffee laced with laxative, causing Harry to spontaneously defecate in a broken toilet at Mary's house. Lloyd arrives at Mary's house and informs her that he has her briefcase; he takes her to the hotel, shows her the briefcase, and confesses his love after some initial struggle, but she unsurprisingly rejects him because she is already married. Suddenly, Nicholas Andre, an old friend of the Swansons and the mastermind behind Bobby's kidnapping, arrives with Shay and, upon learning that Lloyd and Harry had spent all of the ransom money and replaced it with IOUs, takes Lloyd and Mary hostage, as well as Harry when he returns. An argument between Harry and Lloyd leads Nicholas to shoot Harry. Before Nicholas can kill them, an FBI team led by Beth Jordan, whom Harry met earlier at a gas station, raids the suite and arrests him and Shay. Harry is revealed to be alive thanks to a bulletproof vest that was strapped on him earlier, and Mary and Bobby are reunited. Lloyd, jealous that he cannot be with Mary because she is married, fantasizes about shooting Bobby dead.

The next day, Harry and Lloyd begin walking home. All of the items they bought were confiscated and their minibike has broken down. The two unknowingly decline the chance to be oil boys for a group of bikini girls, after which Harry tells Lloyd that they will get their "break" one day. Harry and Lloyd then play a friendly game of tag as they walk back home.

Cast

  • Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas
    A chip-toothed, slacker who has been fired from several jobs. He has a crush on Mary Swanson, unaware that she is married.
  • Jeff Daniels as Harry Dunne
    Lloyd's best friend and roommate. Though dim-witted, Harry is slightly more intelligent than Lloyd and can be said to be the "Dumb" of the title to Lloyd's "Dumber".
  • Lauren Holly as Mary Swanson
    A wealthy but troubled heiress whose husband Bobby has been kidnapped.
  • Karen Duffy as J.P. Shay
    A henchwoman of Nicholas Andre.
  • Mike Starr as Joe "Mental" Mentalino
    A henchman for Nicholas Andre. He has a stomach ulcer and regularly takes medication for it.
  • Charles Rocket as Nicholas Andre
    A greedy, wealthy resident of Aspen, Colorado and the mastermind behind Bobby's kidnapping.
  • Teri Garr as Helen Swanson
    Mary's stepmother.
  • Victoria Rowell as Beth Jordan (credited as "Athletic Beauty")
    An FBI agent masquerading as a talkative young woman moving to Aspen to get away from her boyfriend.
  • Cam Neely as Sea Bass
    A hot-tempered trucker who gets into frequent confrontations with Lloyd and Harry on their way to Aspen. Their first encounter was at a Pennsylvania diner.
  • Joe Baker as Barnard
  • Harland Williams as the motorcycle police officer
  • Brad Lockerman as Bobby Swanson
    Mary's kidnapped husband
  • Lin Shaye as Mrs. Neugeboren (referred to by Harry as "Mrs. Noogieburger")
    A dog owner and client of Harry's.
  • Hank Brandt as Karl Swanson
    Mary's father
  • Felton Perry as Detective Dale
  • Brady Bluhm as Billy
    a blind and young boy who uses a wheelchair, to whom Lloyd sold some of his and Harry's belongings, including Harry's decapitated parakeet. It appears on the news when Harry and Lloyd arrive in Aspen.
  • Connie Sawyer as elderly lady

Production

The Farrelly Brothers had been trying for years to get their first movie made, and it was only when Director Peter Farrelly's agent encouraged him to make a movie himself along with his brother Bobby.

The Farrelly Brothers didn't know who Jim Carrey was, they were only told that he was known as "The White Guy" in In Living Color, it was only after when the Brothers were invited to watch the screening of Carrey's first major acting role and the first of his 1994 hits Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, they realized they had struck gold, and based on the box-office success of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), received a salary of $7 million for this film.[7]

Jeff Daniels was only paid around $50,000. New Line Cinema originally did not want Daniels in the film, as he was known only for his dramatic work at the time. The Farrelly Brothers and Carrey fought to have him cast and won out, but the studio offered Daniels the low salary in the hopes it would discourage him from signing on to the film. Daniels ultimately accepted the role, despite his agent reportedly dissuading him from accepting the role out of fears it would have killed his career.[8]

Steve Martin and Martin Short both turned down the role of Lloyd.[9] According to Splitsider, Nicolas Cage and Gary Oldman were the original choices for Harry and Lloyd.[10] Chris Elliott and Rob Lowe were both also considered for the role of Harry.[10]

Jim Carrey's chipped tooth is genuine, resulting from a fight with a classmate in his childhood, but he had since had it capped. He simply had the crown temporarily removed from that tooth to portray Lloyd.[11]

Location

Scenes taking place in Aspen were filmed in Breckenridge, Colorado and Park City, Utah. The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado was transformed into the "Danbury Hotel" for the filming of the movie. The "Danbury Hotel" bar scene and staircase shot were the shots filmed there. The scenes filmed in the snow were shot at Copper Mountain Resort, Colorado.[12]

The truck stop shots, salt shaker Sea Bass diner scene, leg on fire at the gas pump, restroom assault scene, and two-lane country road scenes were filmed in and around Fort Morgan, Colorado with a number of locals filling the extra roles.

Some of the external street scenes were filmed in Salt Lake City, and the airport scene was filmed at Salt Lake City International Airport.[13]

Some scenes from the beginning of the film were shot on location in the Providence, Rhode Island, metropolitan area, including shots of the skyline and The Big Blue Bug; scenes from the beginning of their road trip were shot in locations in Cumberland, Rhode Island.[14]

Parts of the film were also shot in Ogden, Utah and American Fork Canyon.[15]

Soundtrack

Dumb and Dumber: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released November 22, 1994
Genre Soundtrack
Length 46:51
Label RCA Records
Producer Various Artists
Singles from Dumb and Dumber: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  1. "New Age Girl"
    Released: June 6, 1994
  2. "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead"
    Released: January 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Dumb and Dumber at AllMusic. Retrieved 9-28-2014.

Dumb and Dumber: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the original soundtrack to the film and was released by RCA Records on November 22, 1994.[16]

Track listing

No.TitleArtistLength
1."The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" (featuring Ellen Reid)Crash Test Dummies3:46
2."New Age Girl"Deadeye Dick3:28
3."Insomniac"Echobelly4:15
4."If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)"Pete Droge3:33
5."Crash (The '95 Mix)"The Primitives3:14
6."Whiney, Whiney (What Really Drives Me Crazy)"Willi One Blood3:36
7."Where I Find My Heaven"Gigolo Aunts3:25
8."Hurdy Gurdy Man"Butthole Surfers3:57
9."Too Much of a Good Thing" (featuring Bret Reilly)The Sons5:15
10."The Bear Song"Green Jellÿ2:41
11."Take"The Lupins3:01
12."You Sexy Thing"Deee-Lite4:07
13."Get Ready"The Proclaimers3:02
Total length:46:51

Omissions

"Love Theme" by Todd Rundgren, the track played during one of the earliest scenes when Lloyd Christmas falls in love for the first time with Mary Swanson, was omitted from the official release. The song "The Rain, The Park & Other Things" by The Cowsills was not on the soundtrack, although it was played quite prominently in the montage of Lloyd fantasizing about Mary, nor was "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison, though it was featured prominently in the make-over montage.

Also missing are "Can We Still Be Friends" by Todd Rundgren (who also wrote the original soundtrack), "Rollin' Down the Hill" by The Rembrandts, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies, "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Boom Shack-A-Lak" by Apache Indian, "The Love Affair" by Dick Walter, and "Make Love Now" by Patrick Wilson. "2 Ft. 0' Butt Crack" by Circle The Wagons (ft. Bruce Greenwood) was also omitted from the soundtrack.[17]

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 67% of 52 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.9/10. The site's consensus reads: "A relentlessly stupid comedy elevated by its main actors: Jim Carrey goes bonkers and Jeff Daniels carries himself admirably in an against-type performance."[18] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, it has a score of 41 based on reviews from 14 critics, which indicates mixed or average reviews.[19]

Roger Ebert gave the film two of four stars (despite praise for the performances of Carrey and Daniels, dubbing the former a "true original", and the dead parakeet joke).[20] Stephen Holden of The New York Times called Carrey "the new Jerry Lewis",[21] and Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "riotous", "rib-splitting", and gave the film praise for being both a crude and slapstick comedy and a "smart comedy" at the same time.[22] Carrey was nominated for a Razzie Award for "Worst New Star".[23]

It has since become a cult film.[5]

Awards

Although the film did not secure any major American film awards, it was successful at the 1995 MTV Movie Awards. Carrey won for Best Comic Performance, Carrey and Holly (a couple who would later endure a short-lived marriage) won for Best Kiss, and Carrey and Daniels were nominated for Best On-Screen Duo.

In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Dumb and Dumber the fifth greatest comedy film of all time. The film ranks 445th on Empire Magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[24]

Box office

The film opened at No. 1 in its opening weekend earning $16.4 million.[25] It went on to gross $127,175,374 in the United States, and $247,275,374 worldwide, and topping the holiday season film gross.[26]

Legacy

Animated series

Title card for the cartoon

In 1995, a Hanna-Barbera-produced animated series aired on ABC, as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup; Matt Frewer provided the voice of Lloyd, while Bill Fagerbakke voiced Harry. In the cartoon, Harry and Lloyd have reacquired their van, now named "Otto". The cartoon also features a new character, Kitty, a female pet purple beaver who appears to be smarter than both men. The animated series was written by Bennett Yellin, co-writer of the film. The show was short-lived and was shelved after one season.

Prequel

In 2003, a prequel was theatrically released, entitled Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. The film featured a cast and crew different from the previous film, and the Farrelly brothers had no involvement in the film's production. It was heavily panned by critics, receiving a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed approximately $39.2 million worldwide against a $19 million budget, as opposed to the original film's far greater $247 million worldwide gross against a $17 million budget.[27][28]

Sequel

In October 2011, the Farrelly brothers confirmed that they would make a sequel to Dumb and Dumber.[29] The sequel, titled Dumb and Dumber To, was shot in the fall of 2013. Carrey and Daniels returned to lead the film, and Bobby and Peter Farrelly returned to direct along with original screenwriter Bennett Yellin, and actors reprising their roles from the first film include Brady Bluhm, who played Billy in (Apartment) 4C, and Cam Neely, who played Sea Bass. Dumb and Dumber To was released on November 14, 2014.[30]

Unlike the original film, Dumb and Dumber To was not released by Warner Bros. Pictures but rather by Universal Pictures.[31] Despite Warner Bros. having no involvement in the film, its New Line Cinema division, which produced the first film and the prequel, was still given studio credit from Universal.[32][33]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Dumb and Dumber (1994)". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Dumb & Dumber (1994)". British Film Institute. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  3. ↑ Box Office Information for Dumb and Dumber. The Wrap. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Dumb and Dumber at Box Office Mojo
  5. 1 2 Alexander, Brian (November 16, 2014). "'Dumb and Dumber To' is top of box office class". USA Today. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Jim Carrey Biography". Bio. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Cameron-Wilson, James; Speed, F. Maurice (1994). Film Review 1994-5. Great Britain: Virgin Books. p. 146. ISBN 0-86369-842-5
  8. ↑ "Jim Carrey Was Paid 140 Times More Than Jeff Daniels For Original 'Dumb And Dumber'". Business Insider.
  9. ↑ Katz, Paul (January 6, 2006). "Is the new Dumb and Dumber DVD an improvement?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Evans, Bradford (23 June 2011). "The Lost Roles of Dumb & Dumber". Splitsider. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Meyers, Kate (February 3, 1995). "Jim Carrey's fake tooth". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  12. ↑ Adventure-Journal Archived 2014-09-02 at the Wayback Machine., Adventure-Journal 10 Mountains Misrepresented in Movies
  13. ↑ Wolf, Colin (November 12, 2014). "When Utah Was Dumber: Take a tour of Utah's most iconic Dumb & Dumber shot locations". Salt Lake City Weekly. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  14. ↑ Zarrella, Mia (July 14, 2015). "10 Movies You Might Not Know Were Filmed In Rhode Island". WWKX. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  15. ↑ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
  16. ↑ Playlist as listed on the Compact Disc — retrieved on 8/12/13
  17. ↑ "2 FT. 0' BUTT CRACK". YouTube. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  18. ↑ "Dumb and Dumber". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
  19. ↑ "Critic Reviews for Dumb & Dumber at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
  20. ↑ "Dumb And Dumber". Chicago Sun-Times.
  21. ↑ Holden, Stephen (December 16, 1994). "FILM REVIEW; Traveling on Half a Tank". The New York Times.
  22. ↑ "FILM REVIEW -- 'Dumb and Dumber' a Smart Comedy With Lowbrow Laughs". San Francisco Chronicle. June 23, 1995.
  23. ↑ Reed, Ryan (2014-11-03). "In Defense of the Stupid Brilliance of Dumb and Dumber". Esquire. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
  24. ↑ "Empire Features". Empireonline.com. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
  25. ↑ Scott Bowles (November 13, 2014). "Can 'Dumb And Dumber To' Outwit Holdovers?: Box Office Preview". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  26. ↑ Weinraub, Bernard (January 3, 1995). "'Dumb and Dumber' Tops Holiday Film Grosses". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  27. ↑ "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  28. ↑ "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  29. ↑ Fleming, Jr., Mike. "Peter And Bobby Farrelly Plan More 'Dumb And Dumber' For Jim Carrey & Jeff Daniels". Deadline. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  30. ↑ Kristobak, Ryan (19 November 2013). "'Dumb And Dumber To' Release Date Set For Nov. 14, 2014". Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  31. ↑ Fleming, Jr., Mike. "TOLDJA! 'Dumb And Dumber To' Proves No-Brainer For Universal; Studio Locks Deal For Farrellys, Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels Pic". Deadline. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  32. ↑ Goldberg, Matt. "New Poster for DUMB AND DUMBER TO; First Trailer Premieres Tonight". Collider.com. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
  33. ↑ "Dumb and Dumber To Poster". Collider.com. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
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