The Farrelly Brothers’ Dumb and Dumber has always caused division with fans whole heartedly giving defense while critics deride it. I have always been on the side of the fans ever since seeing it on VHS in the mid 90’s. In fact, I distinctly remember blowing beer out my nose at the “I thought the Rocky Mountains would be a little rockier than this” exchange and just thinking of certain lines will crack me up to this day. There are easily more clever or smarter comedies available, but this particular collection of absurd lowbrow humor has remained consistently hilarious and seems to be picking up more fans over the years.
The film is responsible for a few “firsts.” Jim Carrey was just getting his movie career started coming off the television series In Living Color and releasing the Mask and the first Ace Ventura movie in 1994, the same year as Dumb and Dumber. Brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly (Kingpin, Something About Mary) started their writing and directing career here, and Jeff Daniels (Pleasantville, Speed, Good Night and Good Luck) had never done any form of humor like this (he even claims in the special features he was told this movie would end his career).
As with much comedy like this, the plot is a contrived mess that really acts as the stage for the goofy and insane antics to play out upon. Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) are two dim-witted roommates who barely have enough intellect between them to hold down a job. Not surprisingly they get fired the same day and set out on a cross-country trip to return a briefcase intended for a ransom payment that they believe was lost by Mary Swanson (Loren Holly), Lloyd’s last client at his job driving limousines.
The story continues through multiple scenarios of confusion and mistaken identity involving hired thugs who are attempting to claim the briefcase and people the duo meet on their trip (Sea Bass being particularly hilarious). The jokes come fast and furious, and it seems that not only is the setup for each subsequent scene trying to outdo what came before (the explosive diarrhea gag may hold the top spot), but also Carrey and Daniels are constantly vying to see who is the “dumber” of the two. With a movie called Dumb and Dumber you should know what you are getting into, as there is nothing subtle or witty to be found, but there are abundant laughs if you can turn your intellect off and follow Harry and Lloyd on their misadventures.
This Blu-ray release from Warner/New Line contains the “unrated” extended version which was originally released on DVD in 2006. It adds around six minutes of footage across three scenes (hot tub, gas station and diarrhea scenes). If you are familiar with these scenes you will definitely notice the extra footage. While it does not really help the film, it does not particularly hurt it either. This is not a case where extra footage is added that fills in background context or gives more insight into a character. This is just making the gags go on longer which works fine for me. It should be noted that the theatrical version of the film is not included.
Much as you should not come to Dumb and Dumber expecting brilliant satire or deep acting, you should have your expectations set accordingly for its high-def debut. The film looks the best it ever has on Blu-ray but really is not painfully impressive. It is a good looking image, but with an ever growing collection of high-def releases that can easily outshine it, this transfer never aspires to be “great.” Warner/New Line roll out the expected VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer with a 1.85:1 ratio.
To its benefit, the print is mostly clean with rare nicks or pops. Color saturation is probably the most noticeable benefit from the Blu-ray image with stable hues that really stand out. Blacks are generally solid with minimal resolution issues and skin tones look natural throughout.
On the complaint side, the image overall is soft and slightly flat. Detail is lacking though does improve somewhat in close-ups but never to the point of creating a noticeable sense of dimensionality. Considering this was a low budget movie with no real care given to the visual presentation, this is probably as good as we can ever expect it to look.
My sentiments about the video quality carry directly over into the audio. Warner graces Dumb and Dumber with a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD mix, and while I am a huge proponent of lossless audio and appreciate the effort, there is only so much that can be done with the original sound recording. While the audio like the video is also the best you have heard for this movie, you will not be using this soundtrack to demo your system.
Dialog is consistently clear and centered in the front channels, which is what really matters for this type of film. The most dynamic moments to my ears are during the “Kung-fu Chef” scene. For the most part, the rears are rarely prominent, and the only time I notice much low end response is during the various songs. In comparison to the English 5.1 Dolby Digital track also provided, the lossless audio gives a minor boost in overall dynamics that creates a satisfactory if not very affecting sound mix. German 2.0 audio is also included along with subtitles in English and German.
Some may complain at the extent of the extras given here but I am not sure how much you should expect from an off-the-wall comedy. Everything from the 2006 DVD edition is included, all in standard definition. For my tastes, it would have been nice to see Jim Carrey or the Farrelly Brothers involved in the extras and possibly have produced a commentary, but we will have to take what we get.
Still Dumb After All These Years (18:35) – Featurette with the majority of actors and producers involved in the film with the exception of the big names of Jim Carrey, Lauren Holly or the Farrely Brothers. Producers Brad Krevoy, Steve Stabler and Charles Wessler all give input on how hard it was to get the movie made. They seem to have had a real passion for getting the story of Lloyd and Harry brought to screen and terms such as “laugh out loud” and “piss my pants” are thrown around in relation to their initial reaction to reading the script.
Even though we are missing Carrey and the Farrelly Brothers, it is impressive at how many other cast members provided input. Jeff Daniels, Mike Star, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Victoria Roswell, Harland Neely, Jesse Borja, Cam Williams and Brady Bluhm all give recollections on the making of the movie.
We also learn, though not necessarily surprising, that much of the on-screen antics involved some level of improvisation. The producers state that they would do two takes of any particular scene based strictly on the script then just start filming while Carrey and Daniels improvised. The “we landed on the moon” and “most annoying sound in the world” gags were totally ad-libbed.
Additional Scenes (33:55) – 12 scenes including deleted, alternate and extended takes. We get the “box scene” with intro from Karen Duffy and Charles Rocket and a montage of short scenes with intro from Jeff Daniels. There is an option to play all.
If you are a fan of the movie, you will find these equally hilarious. In fact, there are a few that I would not have minded if they had included in this extended cut of the film.
Extras (SD, 7:45) – Takes on four scenes (Toilet Scene, Kung Fu Chef, Big Fire Stunt, Most Annoying Sound). Interviews with Jeff Daniels, Jesse Borja (Kung Fu Chef), Victoria Rowell and Mike Rowell are played as they tongue in cheek dissect their related scene. This is not as funny as the outtakes but worth a viewing.
Trailers/TV Spot (SD, 6:55) – Three trailers and one TV spot. Two trailers are fakes with the first making the movie look like an inspirational romance and the second as an action/thriller. The third trailer and TV spot are the real ones used for promotion. The video quality is poor on all of these.
Dumb and Dumber is still one of my favorite comedies after all these years. If you are a fan of the Farrelly Brothers or insane humor in general, this is about as good as it gets. Warner/New Line brings this lowbrow comedy to Blu-ray with acceptable if not overly laudable results. The video and audio do their job, but you will not find yourself amazed at the high-def presentation.
If you absolutely have to have the best home video incarnation of Dumb and Dumber, this is it. However, while this may be an easy sell for those still holding on to the original bare bones 1997 DVD edition with a weak first generation transfer, those owning the 2006 DVD may need to think twice before upgrading.
– Robert Searle
