New Line Home Cinema presents

Dumb and Dumber: SE (2005)

"Hey! Why don't we get busy and deliver the briefcase to Mary? If I know her as well as I think I do, she'll invite us right in for tea and strumpets."- Lloyd (Jim Carrey)

Stars: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels
Other Stars: Lauren Holly, Mike Starr, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Victoria Rowell, Joe Baker, Hank Brandt, Teri Garr, Cam Neely, Brad Bluhm, Felton Perry, Brad Lockerman, Lin Shaye, Harland Williams, Fred Stoller, Jesse Borja
Director: Peter Farrelly

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (crude humor, sexual references, brief nudity, language, mild violence)
Run Time: 01h:52m:40s
Release Date: 2006-01-03
Genre: comedy

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B-	B	A	B+	B

 

DVD Review

When Dumb and Dumber was released in 1994, I laughed the hardest I'd ever laughed while watching a movie, relishing every bit of its potty humor with boyish glee. Now we embark upon 2006 and my reaction to the Jim Carrey-Jeff Daniels buddy movie remains unchanged: I'm lost in a labyrinth of stupidity thanks to the Farrelly Brothers.

The movie's plot is little more than an excuse to provide the audience with a barrage of crass gags. Limo driver extraordinaire and complete numbskull Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) falls in love with a woman he chauffeurs to the airport, Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), and feels obliged to return a briefcase she left at the airport. After getting fired, Lloyd and his equally numbskull best friend Harry Dunne (Daniels) become entwined in a kidnapping plot concerning Mary's husband as the two unwittingly carry the ransom money in the briefcase and are pursued by a gaseous hit man (Mike Starr) and his accomplice (Karen Duffy). Think of this as Thelma and Louise meets The Three Stooges and you'll have a good idea of its tone.

But the crux of the Peter Farrelly-directed comedy isn't in its contrived plot, but rather in the performances of Carrey and Daniels. Carrey pulls out all the stops in one of his earliest performances, brimming with zealous stupidity from start to finish, while Daniels is the perfect compliment as his slow-witted, lethargic best friend. These two actors have chemistry, whether it's a scene in a diner that results in Sea Bass (Cam Neely) hocking a loogie on Harry's burger or in the vast plains of the Rocky Mountains that makes for one of the movie's best jokes, and the result is a low-brow comic delight. Over a decade later, I can't stop myself from laughing at Harry's unfortunate bowel movement while at Mary's house, nor can I fail to cheer Lloyd on when he joyous learns of Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon. Carrey and Daniels appear to relish their roles, overacting just enough to be funny without being annoying.

Perhaps the movie's greatest strength is that everybody takes their work seriously. The two leads and their writers aren't acting on assumptions about stupid people, but rather create genuine idiots. The result is a comedy devoid of irony and satire, a collection of well-executed gags that combine to create one of the funniest films of the 1990s. This is not a stylish movie despite its rocking soundtrack, but rather an unassuming bit of filmmaking. Director Farrelly and co-writing brother Bobby approach the material without pretension and craft an aesthetically plain palette. However, in keeping their instincts primitive, the Farrellys actually make the movie funnier, allowing the absurd antics of Lloyd and Harry to stand tall.

This new unrated edition of Dumb and Dumber adds an additional six minutes of jokes that would have landed the movie an R-rating. The gags are amusing on their own, but interrupt the flow and were rightly deleted from the theatrical cut, which I prefer as it more than meets my quota for stupidity. How dumb is that?

Rating for Style: B-
Rating for Substance: B

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.85:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: The anamorphic 1.85:1 picture is as good as you could hope for, with a strong film-like look. The colors are vibrant, blacks are rich, detail is strong, and the overall picture quality is quite crisp. Excellent work!

Image Transfer Grade: A
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes
DTS	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The DTS ES 6.1 mix has a nice amount of ambience in the rear-channels, with sound separation and directionality giving only a bit of dynamic range to the experience. Dialogue is always audible and crisp. There aren't a lot of tricks here, which I lament considering the movie's over-the-top antics, and the Dolby Digital EX 5.1 mix is the same. Apart from the DTS track having a stronger bass presence, I didn't notice any significant difference between the two. A Dolby Stereo 2.0 track is also available.

Audio Transfer Grade: B+ 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 24 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English, Spanish with remote access
1 Original Trailer(s)
4 Other Trailer(s) featuring Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, The Man, The Mask, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
12 Deleted Scenes
2 Alternate Endings
1 Documentaries
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: RSDL
Layers Switch: 01h:22m:32s

Extra Extras:

1. Joke Trailers—two new trailers of the movie, created for this DVD.

Extras Review: Released as a New Line "Platinum Series" entry, this unrated version of Dumb and Dumber has a collection of new extras made especially for this release. The special features begin with 12 deleted scenes, including two alternate endings, which can be played together (for a combined running time of 29m:07s) or separately. Each of them is wisely not included in the final cut, though there are some downright hilarious bits caught in the mix. However, all the scenes play like unpolished bits of improvisation.

Next is a retrospective documentary, Still Dumb After All These Years (18m:33s), consisting of interviews with the producers, Jeff Daniels, and members of the supporting cast. The usual territory is covered here, such as the casting and screenwriting processes, and everybody talks about how much fun they had making the movie. What is unique to this documentary, however, is how well it uses clips from the film to underscore what the interviewees are talking about. The end result is a humorous and mildly informative piece. Make sure to catch when Daniels mentions Clint Eastwood's empathy for Harry.

Additionally, the movie's original trailer and a TV spot are included, as are trailers for Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, The Man, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. Furthermore, two joke trailers for Dumb and Dumber were created for this DVD. Both are rather amusing, in one marketing the filmas a tender drama and as an action movie in the other. All are presented in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.

Extras Grade: B
 

Final Comments

If you're looking for good potty humor, Dumb and Dumber is the right movie for you. The transfers are quite nice and the bonus materials on this edition are enjoyable. If you don't own the original release, this is worth your 15 bucks.

Nate Meyers 2006-01-03