"Dumb and Dumber To": 10 Film Critics Grudgingly Admit They Like The Movie [REVIEW ROUNDUP]

The reviews are in for Dumb and Dumber To–and it’s no big surprise that a lot of critics are out to pan the film. We’re past the fun summer season and heading into the prestigious awards season. Film critics have a reputation to protect, you know. Fortunately, there are still film critics ready to admit they enjoyed Dumb and Dumber To as much we did here at COED.
We’ll admit that it’s a little weird how much the new film parallels the plot of the original, but the Farrelly Brothers seem to have been on a real mission when they reunited with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. What could be a quick cash-in feels more like an attempt to get seriously deranged. Still, this is a prime comedy with less plot holes than Gone Girl.
We can admit that kind of thing. Now take a look at how the bravest of film critics managed to couch their reviews so that they wouldn’t get beaten up when they got together with their fellow writers to hammer out the Top Films of 2014 According to Their Prestigious Film Board. It’s not too embarassing, and a few of them have good points…

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“Rehashing plot points of the original is perfectly OK, as it turns out. I laughed a lot at this movie, possibly even more than I did at the original film, which I enjoyed quite a bit.” — Peter Howell, Toronto Star
“In a world of ISIS, Ebola, dwindling retirement funds and severe drought, somehow this film seems needed.” — Tom Long, Detroit News

“Don’t go see this movie because I liked it and then send me a tweet complaining it was stupid. I’ll tell you right now what I’d tweet back: ‘Yes, exactly.’ This movie is stupendously stupid.” — Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
“In one champion moment, Carrey squeezes laughs from simply eating a hot dog in a weird way, even if there’s no real motivation for the behaviour. The move involves loading the dog with mustard, biting the edges from outside the bun, then chomping a little of the bun, then sliding the rest of the tube down past pursed lips, then using the remainder of the bun as a napkin to get the mustard off his face, then tossing the bun away. It’s an outstanding bit of unexpected physical comedy and Charlie Chaplin himself couldn’t do much better. None of this is to say that Dumb and Dumber To isn’t what you’d typically call a good movie.” — Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian
“Despite my better instincts, I thought this film was pretty funny.” — John Hanlon, John Hanlon Reviews

“I was reminded of 2010’s Jackass 3D (there’s a line you’ll never read in Cinema Scope magazine!) in that, while I never actively wanted to laugh, sometimes I just couldn’t help myself.” — Chris Knight, National Post
“The Farrellys snatch the rug out from under everyone sooner or later, and there’s pleasure in watching them do it–if you can check your morals, sense of good taste and IQ at the door.” — Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer
“Dumb and Dumber To sits in the ‘enjoyable retread of the first film’ category…” — Eric Goldman, IGN

“As usual, the brothers don’t toss away a single idea, and some of the misfires are vile; there’s a fantasy-flashback joke involving the daughter’s first period that I’d pay to have removed from my memory bank. But the batting average is surprisingly high…” — Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“Dumb and Dumber To never had to be competent to work; its sloppiness is its charm. It’s a mishmash of good, bad an in-between that quietly lowers expectations enough so that they can be repeatedly exceeded. See y’all in 2034.” — Matt Prigge, Metro

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