La cloche et l'idiot 2

Les retrouvailles de ce duo d'imbéciles heureux, visiblement attendues par leurs admirateurs, sont reconstituées dans un style sans éclat, purement fonctionnel, qui laisse toute la place au cabotinage excessif des deux vedettes. Jeff Daniels et Jim Carrey ne s'en privent pas, ayant su garder intacte la complicité si efficace à la base du premier film, même si le tout représente un important gaspillage d'énergie et de talent.

One of the brighter qualities of the works of the Farrelly brothers is how, even in the midst of profane unholiness and toilet humor, a sincere pathos often emerges.

Presumably, the Farrelly combo of sentiment and sleaze will never die. Because so many gags fall flat, you may treasure the ones that do. Why? Out of respect for the way Carrey and Daniels throw themselves into gross stupidity.

Au final, les réalisateurs (également scénaristes) nous offrent une belle comédie un peu vulgaire, souvent naïve, mais surtout, étonnamment intelligente.

Il est intéressant d'observer, grâce à cette suite trop longue et inutile, que bien des blagues qui nous auraient peut-être encore fait rire ou sourire il y a 20 ans, comme celles impliquant de la cruauté envers les animaux (même si elle est fictive), ne passent plus du tout le test en 2014. On mentirait toutefois en disant que rien n'est drôle, puisqu'à travers cet océan de bêtise, il y a tout de même plusieurs bons gags. Mais rien de mémorable.

I didn't watch thinking that Dumb and Dumber To was fated to be a disaster from its conception — only that comedy is famously hard and this particular effort didn’t pay off. I'd still get in line for Dumber and Dumbest.

Is it a great movie? Only if you define great as the number of times one of the leads is shown having his adult diapers changed baby-style by the other lead (in this case, numerous). Is it a good movie? Only if you think the sight of a cat high on meth wildly swinging from a chandelier in the background is hilarious. Is it an occasionally insulting and out-of-touch movie? Only if you think racist jokes aimed at Mexicans, Asians and even Canadians or ugly sexist taunts directed at a woman of a certain age who happens to be Kathleen Turner are offensive.

Twenty years later, Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels) are practically right where we left them, as if they'd spent two decades in a near-catatonic state. Their hair is the same, their adventure—to locate Harry's beautiful daughter (Rachel Melvin) in order to find a suitable kidney donor—is familiar, and generous helpings of the Farrelly brothers' gross-out humor is spread throughout.

Avec son intrigue terriblement pauvre et inutilement compliquée ainsi que le nombre trop peu élevé de plaisanteries amusantes, ce nouveau volet n'arrive pas à la cheville du précédent.

It would almost be nice if Dumb and Dumber To had wound up being catastrophically terrible, as we could have just dismissed it in the “never should have been made” category of sequels. Given all that is good and what works about the film, it’s hard to shake the feeling that what has been presented could be edited down to a much tighter, 80- minute film. But that’s not what the Farrelly’s have delivered, and it will likely leave audiences disappointed more than anything. 

The brothers' puerile humor and worldview may occasionally be hard to stomach, but ''Dumb and Dumber To'' is a worthy and worthwhile sequel, a visit to that optimistic, unblemished era when movie comedies had just found a promising new future in Carrey — and when ''Hall Pass'' was but a glint in the Farrellys’ eye.

Dumb and Dumber To is really only worth seeing if you're a die-hard fan of the first movie and have been dying to see Carrey and Daniels reunite for the last twenty years.

Hilarity is hard to come by, though. While it's amusing to see Harry impersonating a genius at the science gathering, making stupid remarks that are misinterpreted for piercing insight, or watching an exasperated Turner chide the duo for their cluelessness, these are small compensations for overall staleness.