Dumb and Dumber To Information

Dumb and Dumber To is a 2014 American comedy film co-written and directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly. It is a direct sequel to their 1994 film Dumb and Dumber, and the third installment overall, following the 2003 prequel film Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. The film stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprising their roles twenty years after the events of the first film, and also features Laurie Holden and Kathleen Turner. The film tells the story of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne (played by Carrey and Daniels, respectively), who set out on a cross country trip to find Harry's daughter who had been adopted.

First announced in October 2011, Dumb and Dumber To underwent a turbulent pre-production phase which included, at one point, Carrey withdrawing from the project, and Warner Bros. declining to produce the film. The project was eventually taken on in 2013 by Red Granite Pictures. The film was produced in late 2013, and was released on November 14, 2014.

Plot

Twenty years after the events of the first film, Lloyd Christmas has been committed at a mental institution ever since his doomed romance with Mary Swanson (aka "Mary Samsonite"). After a recent visit to Lloyd, Harry Dunne realizes Lloyd pranked him and was committed only as a joke. Lloyd decides to leave with Harry and the duo head to their apartment. When they get there, Harry tells Lloyd about his medical issue: one of his kidneys is bad and he needs a donor soon.

The two decide to go to Harry's old home, but Harry cannot get a kidney from his parents since he was adopted and they are incompatible. On their way out, Harry's dad gives him his mail that's been piling up since he moved out. One of them is a postcard from his old girlfriend Fraida Felcher dating from 1991. It says that she's pregnant and she needs Harry to call her. The two track Fraida down at her family's funeral parlor. Fraida admits that she had a daughter named Fanny that she gave up for adoption. She wrote Fanny a letter, only for it to be sent back and noted to never contact her again. Fraida shows the two a picture of the girl that she found online.

The duo decide to find Fanny, and they take a hearse from the parlor and drive to Maryland where Fanny now lives. Dr. Bernard Pinchelow and his wife Adele are the adoptive parents of Fanny, who has taken up the new name Penny. Penny is going to a KEN Convention in El Paso, Texas to give a speech on her father's life work, and is also given a package to be given to one of the doctors at the convention. Penny ends up forgetting the package, along with her phone.

Adele is secretly trying to poison Bernard, with the help of her lover and the family's housekeeper Travis. After Harry and Lloyd arrive at the house, they inform the Pinchelows of their situation, at which point Bernard realizes Penny left the package, which he says is worth billions. Adele suggests that Harry and Lloyd deliver the package to Penny. So Adele and Travis can get the billions from the package, Travis accompanies the duo, but he becomes extremely annoyed with the duo"?s antics. While they are driving, Travis sets off a firecracker in the car that deafens Harry, and Lloyd very briefly. They stop the Hearse in the middle of the road. Travis attempts to shoot them, only for a freight train to plow into him and the Hearse, which Harry and Lloyd do not see. As the duo continue their journey, they stumble upon their old van. They take it for a ride, only for it to break on the road. They end up stealing a Zamboni. Adele hears of Travis's death from his twin brother Captain Lippencott, who agrees to help her kill Harry and Lloyd.

The duo make it to El Paso for the KEN Convention. While there, Harry is mistaken for Bernard and the duo are invited for a seminar. Harry and Lloyd get into an argument when Harry realizes that Lloyd wants to get with Penny. Upset, Lloyd leaves the convention, after which he gets a call from Penny. They arrange a meeting at a fountain after he tells her that he's there with her dad. Adele arrives at the convention and exposes Harry as a fraud when she tells the heads of the convention that he is not her husband. Fraida also arrives and pulls the fire alarm and everybody exits. Harry runs into Fraida and Penny, only for the moment to be ruined by Lippencott pulling a gun. They run into the bathroom where he and Adele follow them. After Lloyd arrives in the bathroom, Adele and Lippencott attempt to shoot them, but three cops bust in with a healthy-looking Bernard, who knew that Adele was conspiring against him. The package he gave Penny were just cupcakes for one of the convention heads. Adele then turns her gun on Penny, but Harry jumps in front of the bullet and is severely injured. Adele and Lippencott are arrested.

Harry is rushed to the hospital, where he reveals that he was pranking Lloyd regarding his kidney. Harry and Lloyd are told by Fraida that Harry is not Penny"?s father and that her biological father is a deceased high school friend of theirs named Pete Stainer (or "Pee Stain", as they called him). As the duo leave El Paso, they spot two beautiful women walking in their direction. They decide not to waste this opportunity, and they end up shoving both women into a bush as a joke. They run off and high-five each other.

In a post-credits scene, Harry and Lloyd are riding in the Zamboni, complaining that they got the wrong milkshakes (they are unknowingly drinking each other's). They toss them backwards and the shakes hit the truck of their old nemesis Sea Bass, who angrily chases the two. A poster for Dumb and Dumber For coming Summer 2034 appears with a camouflaged Lippencott walking out of the text.

Cast

• Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas
• Jeff Daniels as Harry Dunne
• Laurie Holden as Adele Pinchelow, the film's main antagonist
• Kathleen Turner as Fraida Felcher
• Brady Bluhm as Billy in 4C
• Steve Tom as Dr. Pinchelow
• Rachel Melvin as Penny Pinchelow, Dr. Pinchelow's daughter
• Rob Riggle as Travis and Captain Lippencott, twin brothers who serve as the film's secondary antagonist
• Paul Blackthorne as Dr. Meldman
• Dalton Gray as Young Harry
• Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean as Ninja Leader in Loyd's Fantasy Sequence

Cameos include Bill Murray, Mama June, and Cam Neely (as Sea Bass). Google chairman Eric Schmidt also filmed a cameo as himself, but it did not make the final cut. Jennifer Lawrence was originally in talks to play a younger Fraida Felcher.

Production

Development

After months of speculation, the Farrelly brothers confirmed in October 2011 that they would make a sequel to Dumb and Dumber. On October 1, 2012, it was reported that the script was complete and that the original actors, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, would reprise their roles, despite Carrey having temporarily withdrawn his involvement in June 2012 due to concerns that Warner Bros. had shown little enthusiasm for the sequel, and Daniels threatening to back out of the sequel if it did not include Carrey.

Regarding the progress of the sequel, Peter Farrelly explained in January 2013,

It's going well. We have a great script and now we are just trying to get it made. I love the script. It's exactly like the first one. We pick up 20 years later. We explain what they've done for the last 17 or 18 years. We take off from that and it's just a lot of laughs. It's at Warner Bros., and right now it's being financed outside the studio, but it will be released by Warner Bros. And that's all being worked out right now. If you liked Dumb and Dumber, you'll like this because it's the same and more. It's really fun. It's being made through Warner Bros. but now we have several financiers that are negotiating with the studio and trying to make the best deal. Whichever one does will make the movie. It's going to be made through Warner Bros. and released by Warner Bros. but financed by an outside financer.

On April 18, 2013, the Farrellys tweeted that Australian band Empire of the Sun would compose the score for the film. On June 10, 2013, Warner Bros. decided not to move forward with the sequel but allowed the film to be pitched to other studios. The following week, an independent company, Red Granite, agreed to finance the sequel with a $35 million budget. Universal Pictures will distribute the film in North America. Even though Warner Bros. had no involvement in making the sequel, its New Line Cinema division, which produced the first film, and its prequel, When Harry Met Lloyd, was given studio credit from Universal.

On June 18, 2013, Peter Farrelly confirmed that the sequel would move forward in an interview with The Nerdist Podcast. In July 2013, a lawsuit filed by Red Granite Pictures sought a declaration that Red Granite owes no contractual obligation to Dumb and Dumber producers Steve Stabler and Brad Krevoy and that the duo are not entitled to any producer fees or credits they claim they're contractually owed on the sequel. In a counter claim, the producers of Dumb and Dumber accused the producers and Red Granite Pictures of racketeering. On July 18, 2014, a request for dismissal was filed in a Los Angeles Superior Court and the case was officially settled. The announcement of the settlement listed the plaintiffs as executive producers, and all claims against Red Granite, Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland of racketeering were withdrawn. The plaintiffs said in a statement, "We apologize for naming Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland as individual defendants rather than just Red Granite."

On July 9, 2013, while on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Daniels confirmed Carrey's involvement, and stated that shooting would start in September 2013 for a 2014 release. On August 30, 2013, Kathleen Turner was confirmed to play the role of Fraida Felcher. On August 31, 2013, it was announced that Brady Bluhm would reprise his role as Billy in 4C for the sequel and that Farrelly brothers frequent collaborators Bennett Yellin and Mike Cerrone co-wrote the script. Screenwriting duo Sean Anders and John Morris did work on the script as well.

On September 8, 2013, an article reported that Cam Neely agreed to reprise his role as Sea Bass for the sequel, while Boston Bruins left winger Milan Lucic would possibly make an appearance as the son of Sea Bass. Later that month, Lucic and Neely both said they have not signed on to the film, although both said they were open to do so. In June 2014, Neely shot a scene for the film, which appears after the credits. On September 16, 2013, The Walking Dead star Laurie Holden, Steve Tom, and Rachel Melvin joined the cast of the film as the Pinchelow family. In September 2013, it was reported Jennifer Lawrence would make a cameo in the film as a younger Fraida Felcher. Lawrence has said in past interviews that she is a big fan of the original film. Some sources indicate that the scene was filmed, but cut from the film after Lawrence vetoed it, a claim denied by both the Lawrence and Farrelly camps. Bobby Farrelly explained that they tried to make a deal with Lawrence: "We talked about trying to work it in, but we weren't able to do it."

On November 18, 2013, it was announced that the film would be released on November 14, 2014.

Filming

On September 4, 2013, it was announced that filming for the sequel would begin on September 24, 2013. On September 8, 2013, Jim Carrey posted a picture of his iconic chipped front tooth, along with the caption, "GESS HUUZ BAK BICHEZ?" On September 22, 2013, principal photography began in Atlanta. On September 24, 2013, Daniels and Carrey posted a photo of themselves on set dressed as Harry and Lloyd. On November 25, 2013, Daniels announced that principal photography had been completed.

Marketing

The theatrical trailer premiered on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on , 2014. In its first week, the trailer had views on YouTube, outpacing nine other trailers, whose combined views numbered . The international trailer was released on June 25.

On August 15, 2014, Universal released two advance posters that spoofed the theatrical release poster for Lucy, another Universal-distributed release that was then in theaters. The two spoof posters, that reversed the "using more than ten percent of the brain" premise of Lucy to imply Harry and Lloyd only used one percent, were made public via Tweets from the Twitter accounts of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. An official TV spot was released on September 25, 2014.

Carrey, Daniels, and the Farrelly Brothers also did extensive press on the late-night circuit; Carrey also guest-hosted Saturday Night Live to promote the film.

Reception

Box office

North America

Early analysts predicted that the film could gross around $30-32 million in its opening weekend and as high as $36-40 million in North America.

The film earned $1.6 million from Thursday night previews and $14.2 million on its opening day in Friday. The film topped the box office in its opening weekend earning $38,053,000 from 3,154 theatres at an average of $12,065 per theatre. The opening weekend gross is higher than the $16.1 million debut of the original film ($31 million adjusted for inflation), and is Carrey"?s biggest debut weekend since Bruce Almighty in 2003 ($67.9 million). The film played 47% under the age of 25 and 55% male. Universal distribution chief Nikki Rocco commented about the opening performance, "This was tricky to market,"? he added, "A lot of these kids weren"?t born when the first [film] came out. But it has been such a serious time in movies, we had great marketing, mindless humor, and we broadened the audience."

Other territories

In its first weekend outside of North America, Dumb and Dumber To made over 13 million dollars. It opened number one in Brazil, Slovenia, Norway, Lebanon, South Africa, Iceland, Croatia, UAE, Urugway. It opened number two in Poland, Austria, Colombia, Serbia, Spain, Finland, Sweden. It opened number three in Singapore, Germany, Nigeria, Netherlands, Mexico, Egypt. The largest opening was in Brazil with $3,497,325.

Outside North America, Dumb and Dumber To earned $3.2 million from 4 markets. The highest debut came from Germany ($1.4 million).

Critical reception

Dumb and Dumber To received generally unfavorable reviews from critics. Based on 103 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 25%, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The general consensus states, "Dumb and Dumber To does have its moments, but not enough of them -- and the Farrelly brothers' brand of humor is nowhere near as refreshingly transgressive as it once seemed." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 36 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

</ref>}} J. R. Jones of Chicago Reader gave the film a positive review saying "Seeing the two fiftysomething stars in their idiot haircuts again is a little disconcerting, like watching your favorite old band on a desperate reunion tour, but this sequel to Dumb & Dumber maintains a respectable laugh quotient." Star Tribune's Colin Covert gave the film one out of four stars and said, "The result is simply stupid. This embarrassing revival plays as if the script were written in Comic Sans." Andrew Barker of Variety gave the film a negative review, saying "Sporadically funny and mostly tedious, this 18-years-too-late sequel nonetheless exhibits a puerile purity of purpose." Joe Neumaier of New York Daily News gave the film zero out of five stars, saying "From junky production values to the parade of unfunny supporting characters to its lazy energy, Dumb and Dumber To falls on its face." Jason Clark of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C-, saying "The ultimate sad realization is not that Dumb & Dumber To doesn't match the original's good-time quotient, but that it might not even be as good as-yikes-Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film one out of four stars, saying "If there was any doubt that most things in society have been dumbed down in the last couple of decades, Dumb and Dumber To could be exhibit A."

</ref>}} David Ehrlich of Time Out New York gave the film three out of five stars, saying "Dumb and Dumber To may not be quite as funny as the first one, but it's the funniest thing the Farrellys have made since." A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club, gave the film D+ and said, "A sequel as desperate, in its own "official" way, as the knockoff-brand origin story that previously besmirched the franchise name." Critic Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle scored the film one out of four stars, saying "Is this worse for Jim Carrey or Jeff Daniels? That's the sort of question that comes to mind while not laughing at Dumb and Dumber To." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said, "The Farrellys are still not much interested in film as a visual medium, and when Lloyd and Harry aren't smacking each other or dropping their pants, you might as well be listening to a radio play." The Boston Globe's critic Ty Burr gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Everyone has piled into this dumber, sillier, more consistently funny reprise with an enthusiasm that's infectious, and not in a low-grade medical way." Tom Long of The Detroit News gave the film a B+, saying "In a world of ISIS, Ebola, dwindling retirement funds and severe drought, somehow this film seems needed."

Betsy Sharkey of Los Angeles Times said, "What felt fresh in Peter and Bobby Farrelly's original Dumb and Dumber, with the Carrey-Daniels dense duo channeling the Stooges and Jerry Lewis and something else entirely, feels strangely old-fashioned two decades later." Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice said, "Dumb and Dumber To is mostly just a kick in the nuts, and not the good kind -- provided there is a good kind." Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail gave the film two out of four stars and said, "Over all, the movie is just funny enough to make you wish it were much better than it is." The Star-Ledger's Stephen Whitty gave the film one and a half out of four stars, saying "The majority of it isn't just dumb and dumber, or even crude and cruder. At nearly two hours, it's just dull - and duller." David Edelstein of New York Magazine said, "I reckon four out of every five jokes played to silence at the preview screening. If Dumb and Dumber To were a live comedian, he'd have said, "Is this an audience or an oil painting?" He'd have left the stage in tears." Wesley Morris of Grantland said, "The directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly cram the movie with puns and those kinds of sight gags. Almost none of them work." Critic Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film one and a half stars out of four and said, "Time can be cruel, especially to sequels."