By

Dumb and Dumber To

It’s well written and paced, and there’s an infectious enthusiasm

Believe it or not, a film critic’s job is not to simply render his or her opinion. I mean, who cares? No, it is to help the fans of a given genre decide whether an upcoming movie is worth spending their hard-earned money on. There are good vampire movies and bad ones; good zombie movies and bad. There are even good romantic comedies. Which brings us to the genre affectionately referred to as “gross-out.”

One such entry that caused most people to laugh their sophisticated asses off was There’s Something about Mary (also by D&D’s Peter & Bobby Farrelly). On the other end of the spectrum, we have … well, just about anything by Seth MacFarlane. So maybe it was a result of lowered expectations or a silly mood, but the bottom line is that I laughed at this 20-years-later sequel. The non-sequiturs and malapropisms are a hoot, it’s well-written and -paced, and there’s an infectious enthusiasm to these lowbrow hijinks.

I won’t go into the plot, but it’s a road movie with Lloyd and Harry trying to find a hitherto unknown daughter (Rachel Melvin—absolutely nailing her dumbette role). A few drinks first, perhaps. It’s still gross.

Japanese title: Kaettekita Mr. Dumber Baka Max! (110 min)