Dumb and Dumber turns 27: Jim Carrey’s buddy comedy was a laugh-a-thon based on toilet humour

A revisit to the film that made two dumb friends, an adorable, innocent duo who could never get anything right.

Dumb and Dumber was received with mixed emotions from critics at the time of its release. Initially, the reviews of the Peter Farrelly directorial were generally dismissive and its most vocal detractors happened to be the allegedly “sophisticated” grownups who had not even watched the film.

The relentlessly stupid comedy was however embraced by the audience and it reached new heights of popularity after its release on home video. Today, twenty-five years later, Dumb and Dumber is a cult favourite among people of all ages. It seems like the sophisticated grown-ups who had initially dismissed the film as crass and vulgar, eventually came around to appreciate the irresistible acting of the main actors Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.

Frankly, the plot is lame but the silliness begins to grow on you as the film progresses. Lloyd (played by Jim Carrey) and Harry (played by Jeff Daniels) are best friends, roommates and resolute partners in their dumb exploits. The film depicts the two friends living in a modest apartment in Rhode Island as they toil away at their jobs with the goal of opening a grand pet store someday. Harry grooms dogs, albeit not very well, and drives the canines around in an unusual van that is itself designed as a dog. Lloyd, on the other hand, is a bumbling chauffeur with an equally moronic bowl haircut. Although they antagonise one another openly, their friendship is true and endearing. They need one another because no one else is willing to put up with their dumbness.

The film begins with Lloyd’s love-at-first-sight sequence with the pretty and rich Mary Swanson (played by Lauren Holly). The imbecilic duo stumbles across a suitcase full of money left behind in Harry's car by Mary and decides to go to Aspen, to return the money. Unaware that it is connected to a kidnapping, their friendship and their brains are tested as the pair are pursued by hired killers and cops. The brilliant opening highlights the optimism and unerring certainty of Llyod and Harry’s questionable IQs and abilities.

Toilet humour is almost as old as mankind and its appeal is universal. However, not all of it creates the same effect, and Dumb and Dumber is the closest we’ve got to the yardstick for the funniest toilet humour ever created. Our bodily functions may sometimes be a source of embarrassment, but they also unite us inexplicably.

Dumb and Dumber is a glorious balance of moronic gags and genius that is required to come up with humour this brilliantly dumb. It also reminds us that none of us are above the feeling of embarrassment. The directors carefully showered affection upon their innocent characters, making allowances for their flawed humanity and vulnerabilities.

The movie’s signature scene involves a diarrhoea explosion. Lloyd is angry at Harry for flirting with Mary. He plans revenge by secretly pouring a laxative marked Turbo Lax into Harry’s drink. Harry sets off to see Mary after the drink and by the time he reaches, his bowels are ready to explode.

Somehow, he makes it to the bathroom where he relieves himself, only to realize that the toilet is broken. His face, a rainbow of relief and surprise, is so painfully funny, that it bridges the gulf between etiquette and vulgarity. You cannot help but burst into peels of laughter, and Dumb and Dumber has a plethora of such memorable scenes.

The film's popularity bolstered a spinoff, Dumb and Dumber To (2014), which was quite bad and nowhere nearly as refreshingly transgressive as the original. What made the original Dumb and Dumber so adorable was that Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne were innocent morons who inadvertently did outrageous things in a normal world.

In Dumb and Dumber To their personalities are not endearing and often downright evil. They are largely unfunny, asinine and objectify women with their persistent and relentless misogyny. The humour portrayed on screen is mean-spirited and becomes darker as the film progresses. Many scenes are rehashed versions of the best jokes in the original film. At some point, it seemed like the directors decided on a checklist of what made Dumb and Dumber a pop culture phenomenon and added them in this lacklustre sequel.

The original Dumb and Dumber while being unapologetically crass, delivers nonstop, hearty laughs for people of all ages. The heady concoction of slapstick violence, explosive toilet humour and sexual tensions ensures that the film ranks high on the list of greatest comedy films.

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