The original Dumb and Dumber  (1994) featured Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, and Jim Carrey.  It was written and directed by the Farrelly brothers, who've worked on such hits as There's Something About Mary, and Me, Myself, and Irene.  They also created Osmosis Jones and Shallow Hal.  Well, nobody's perfect.

This sequel features none of the original stars.  It's a prequel that features Harry and Lloyd as teenagers.  It's directed and co-written by Troy Miller, who has done a lot of TV work. 

Let's cut to the chase.  Dumb and Dumberer is dumb.  It doesn't try to be intellectual.  There probably aren't many people who would accidentally go into this film expecting some witty repartee and delightfully dry bons mots, but just to be clear, this is low brow humor.  Now, the Masked Reviewer wants to be clear that there's nothing wrong with low brow humor.  Dumb and Dumber did it well.  Airplane did it well.  And Something About Mary took it to new levels.

The two lead actors are remarkable.  Eric Christian Olsen (Pearl Harbor, Not Another Teen Movie, and...The Hot Chick) and Derek Richardson (...) do a great job of pre-reprising the roles of Carrey and Daniels in this prequel.  Olsen especially has Carrey's character nailed in word, manner, and flatulence.  Richardson is equally impressive.  It's a hard task, and it would be easy to slip into a really superficial imitation, but they do manage to capture the characters that Carrey and Daniels presented in the original.

That being said...the movie is dumb.  It's supposed to be.  By the way, why do they spell dumb with a silent 'b'?  Wouldn't you want such a word to be as easy to spell as possible?  What's the point of calling someone something they can't spell?  How are you supposed to insult them in a letter? 

Anyway, there is a little story to hang the really obvious jokes on.  It serves its purpose, but the movie is all about setting the humor bar low and then trying to lower it.  They do have a few laughs, but this is one of those films you'll either love or hate.  If you can go in with absolutely no expectation whatsoever, you'll have some moments of fun, though they're not as common as you might like for ten bucks. 

Cheri O'Teri from "Saturday Night Live" and Eugene Levy play supporting roles in this film.  That sentence will be all the information that some people need when they decide whether to see the film.  But, in fairness, they're fine.  Everyone is fine.  This film falls short in the stupid laugh department, but the charm of the cast makes up for a bit.  That's not to say that this is a must-see, but rather, it could've been worse.  Some, undoubtedly, will think the Masked Reviewer has flipped his mask after seeing the film, but this film will be loved by some and loathed by others.  You've got to be in the right mood.  Yes, this was just stated in the last paragraph, but it's worth repeating.

Bob Saget has a small role in the film, and he's great.  He's worth 20% of the price of admission alone.  By the way, if you have the opportunity to see Bob Saget performing stand-up, go see him.  He's amazing, in the good way.  This paragraph is brought to you by the Bob Saget Society of America.

If you do see the movie, stay for the credits.  The beginning of the credits feature outtakes, and a couple of them are funnier than anything in the film.

If you loved the original and felt that the characters weren't explored fully enough, then you will like this prequel.  If you liked movies like, oh...Freddy Got Fingered, then this film is right at your level. 

What follows is a paraphrasing of one of the lines in Dumb and Dumberer.  It violates the Masked Reviewer's policy to not give anything away about the movie, so if you plan to see it and want to be completely surprised by each fart and fall, please skip the rest of this paragraph.  The Masked Reviewer wouldn't want to sap any of the pleasure from you.  Okay.  This will give you a good idea of the kind of big laughs you're in for in the film.  Ready?  "You're a genius, like Albert Frankenstein."  Now, to be fair, that's taken out of context.  But, you know...if you're in the right mood (and possibly drunk or high) this may make you laugh.

Expectation from the Title: Harpo and Helen Keller hit the road.

Mother's Rule (Always Say Something Good About Everything):  The two poor young men in this film were treated very unfairly, so it's nice to see they had a happy ending.

The Pros: Dumb.

The Cons: Dumberer.