Netflix Comedy Classic Still Holds Up 30 Years Later

Dumb and Dumber is one of those movies that’s so incredibly stupid that the only way it could succeed is if the writing is the exact opposite.

For every idiot you see on-screen in movies or TV, you should expect smart writing because nuance is required to make a characters come off as so unbelievably dumb … and dumber.

What appears to be a slap-stick comedy about two morons who have difficulty navigating through every inconsequential aspect of their daily lives plays out more like a comedy of errors because of the staggering level of miscommunication between Jim Carrey’s Lloyd Christmas and Jeff Daniels’ Harry Dunne.

The primary miscommunication, and the catalyst that sets Dumb and Dumber’s entire plot in motion, is a Samsonite briefcase owned by Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly). Working as a limo driver, Lloyd sees that a frazzled Mary leaves her briefcase behind at the airport, and since he’s experiencing love at first sight even though his mental faculties make him incapable of articulating what he’s feeling, he feels obligated to reunite her with her lost luggage.

But here’s the problem: Mary is traveling to Aspen, Colorado, and Harry and Lloyd live in Rhode Island.

And here’s an even bigger problem: Mary intentionally left that briefcase at the airport because it’s full of money … ransom money for her husband, Bobby (Brad Lockerman), who was kidnapped by a criminal named Joe Mentalino (Mike Starr).

Written and directed by Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary), Dumb and Dumber takes this simple miscommunication and elevates it to such levels of absurdity that you can’t help but be enthralled by its exposition.

For one thing, Harry and Lloyd attempt to travel cross-country in Harry’s van that has been customized to look like a dog to help promote his grooming business. Their complete lack of situational awareness somehow (and miraculously) puts them one step of Bobby Swanson’s kidnapper, leading the film’s antagonist to think they’re actually criminal masterminds in their own right.

When Harry and Lloyd realize that Mary’s briefcase contains an unthinkable amount of money, they slowly replace the dollars with I.O.U.’s as they treat themselves to new wardrobes, spa treatments, and a Lamborghini Diablo.

Within this surprisingly intelligent narrative framework, Dumb and Dumber expertly folds in cheap laughs that appeal to the lowest common denominator.

From Lloyd’s Turbo-Lax tomfoolery and Harry lighting himself on fire at the gas pump while trying to score a woman’s phone number, to inadvertently making a motorcycle cop drink a bottle of urine after scamming a violent trucker named Sea Bass (Cam Neely) into paying their restaurant bill, the duo leaves so much damage in their wake, all while remaining blissfully unaware of the consequences of their actions.

As unappealing and offputtingly stupid as Harry and Lloyd are, they’re so earnest in their delivery that you can’t help but root for them even though they’re directly responsible for everybody’s misfortune.

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If you have fond memories of watching this film when it first came out, then it comes with strong recommendations that you stream it on Netflix to relive Harry and Lloyd’s misguided adventures. If you originally wrote the film off as just another “Jim Carrey makes stupid faces and yells a lot” kind of movie, I urge you to reconsider your stance and give this film a second chance. Carrey and Daniels can only lean into this level of stupidity so convincingly because the writing is so disproportionately smart.

You can currently stream Dumb and Dumber, and its sequel, on Netflix, and I can’t think of any reason why you wouldn’t other than the fact that you’re allergic to fun.