Dumb and Dumber To: Crappy and crappier

(1 star) Bottom line: Can’t say huh. It’s dumb, not funny. It’s disgusting, not funny. It’s pathetic, not funny. The sequel, Dumb and Dumber To, is just not funny. The “To” in the title, is indicative enough. The gags are gross. Potty humour is slapped on, thicker than cow dung. Jim goofy face Carrey tries too hard. Jeff Daniels is actually better. But hey, the plot is the somewhat shining metal under the crap. Its one thing to have dimwit characters but another, to have ugly, yucky faces twist into unsightly grins, showing dirty teeth and worse: dirty, crappy fingers and annoying sense of humour. By the time you are done watching Dumb and Dumber To, you are left with your sense of smell and vision assaulted in the grossest way, imaginable. Thankfully, the film does not limit itself to the most slovenly characters who pull a fast one on each other, waiting to say, “got ya”. There is actually a plot, which unfolds quite smoothly and ends up putting the dimwits (same costumes as original film) in a place crowded with brilliance and brains – a scientists’ invention seminar. But first, there are diapers to be changed (yes, one of them lives in those for a while) and jokes that fall as flat as the girls they push into the bushes. There is actually one girl who might find this funny. That’s a pretty girl called Penny (Rachel Melvin) who does exactly the same thing. Much to our middle aged, daft hero, Lloyd’s (Jim Carrey) surprise and delight. “I love you,” he squeaks to her. She is supposed to be his dumber friend’s lost daughter. The thing is, Harry (Jeff Daniels) opens a letter sent to him 20 years ago, informing him that a certain woman (Kathleen Turner) he dated, was pregnant. Apparently, he has a grown up daughter now. The two go kiddo hunting. The reasons are different though. Harry wants a kidney from her. Llyod, after one look at her picture, wants the girl. A trip to the past involves some return trips. Like ending up at the address where they started, simply because they don’t know about the front or back of their hands or posted envelopes. Only, they are not the ones exasperated. They still find something to gloat over. Like how the resident looks just the same. This is the mildest of the jokes that might bring a faint smile. Laughter is miles away. There is plenty of disgust, instead. Without one reliving the muck here, suffice it to say, it is splattered, throughout the film. Add to that, some Pink Panther subplot thrills and moments, and you get onto slippery and slapstick tracks of evil scheming. The crappy twosome finds themselves in the midst of the supposed daughter’s adoptive, rich family with a noble prize winning scientist, Dr Pinchelow (Steve Tom) and proverbial, greedy, foster mom (Laurie Holden). A mystery box is thrown in, which the two nuts must guard with their lives. Thereon, its one wild goose chase after another. By the time it ends, you are left with the daftest, wildest and fattest goose ever. You can almost hear the filmmakers whoop, “GOT YA”. And that serves Dumber and Dumber To’s desperate purpose. Sorry, can’t say huh. (The writer tries to make peace with her own filmmaking nightmares, of being a scriptwriter, actor and assisting film icons by moonlighting as a film journalist.http://gayatrigauri.blogspot.in)