December 16, 1994
Dumb and Dumber is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the Dumb and Dumber franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, it tells the story of Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels), two dumb but well-meaning friends from Providence, Rhode Island, who set out on a cross-country road trip to Aspen, Colorado, to return a briefcase full of money to its owner, thinking it was abandoned as a mistake, though it was actually left as a ransom. Lauren Holly, Karen Duffy, Mike Starr, Charles Rocket, and Teri Garr play supporting roles.
The film was released on December 16, 1994, to mixed reviews from critics. It grossed $247 million at the box office and has since developed a cult following. The success of Dumb and Dumber launched the career of the Farrelly brothers, established the range of the heretofore dramatically acclaimed Daniels as a gifted comedic actor and revitalized his Hollywood career, and solidified Carrey's reputation as one of the most prominent actors of the 1990s. The film also spawned an animated TV series, a 2003 prequel, and a 2014 sequel.
Storyline
Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne are two good-hearted but dimwitted best friends and roommates living in Providence, Rhode Island. Lloyd, a chip-toothed limousine driver, is instantly smitten with his passenger Mary Swanson, who is flying to Aspen, Colorado and Lloyd tells Mary that he and his friend Harry are taking jobs like this to save money to buy their own pet store. She leaves a briefcase in the airport and Lloyd attempts to return it, unaware it contains ransom money she has left for criminals Joe "Mental" Mentalino and J. P. Shay. Her plane has already departed, and Lloyd falls out of the jetway.
Fired for leaving the scene of an accident, Lloyd returns home to learn that Harry, a dog groomer, has also been fired for showing up late to a dog show with the dogs covered in food. Mental and Shay follow Lloyd home, but he and Harry mistake the crooks for debt collectors and flee, returning later to find Harry's parakeet has been decapitated. Lloyd convinces Harry that they should return Mary's briefcase, and they set off for Aspen in Harry's dog-styled van.
In league with Nicholas Andre, a friend of Mary's family, Mental poses as a hitchhiker and is picked up by Harry and Lloyd, who annoy him with their childish antics. Stopping for lunch, Mental plans to slip the duo rat poison pills, but they prank him by putting chili peppers in his burger, aggravating his stomach ulcer. Mistaking the pills for his medication, they inadvertently kill him with the poison but continue their trip.
At a gas station, Harry flirts with fellow Aspen-bound driver Beth, and unwittingly saves Lloyd from being assaulted by Sea Bass, a trucker they offended earlier. Police wait to intercept the duo on the road to Colorado, but Lloyd takes a wrong turn and drives all night through Nebraska. Harry gives up on the journey, but Lloyd persuades him to continue after trading their van for a minibike.
The duo arrives in Aspen but cannot find Mary, and a frustrated Harry attacks Lloyd, breaking open the briefcase and discovering the money, which they use on a hotel suite and lavish spending spree. They read in the newspaper that Mary and her family are hosting a charity gala, where a nervous Lloyd asks Harry to talk to her on his behalf. However, Harry agrees to go skiing with Mary instead, lying to Lloyd that he arranged a date for him.
While Harry and Mary have an enjoyable time together, Lloyd waits at the hotel bar and encounters Beth. Visiting Mary's home, he realizes that Harry lied to spend the day with her himself. In retaliation, Lloyd serves him coffee laced with laxatives, causing Harry to spontaneously defecate in Mary's broken toilet, while Lloyd reintroduces himself to Mary. Taking her to the hotel to return the briefcase, he confesses his love for her, but she rejects him.
Nicholas Andre, a friend of the Swanson family, arrives, from whom Lloyd learns that Mary has a husband named Bobby, and that the money was for her husband's captors, who are Mental, Shay, and Nicholas. Nicholas holds them at gunpoint and is furious to discover that Harry and Lloyd spent the ransom, replacing it with IOUs. Harry arrives and after a brief confrontation with Lloyd over Mary is shot by Nicholas, and plays dead before ineptly returning fire. An FBI team bursts in, led by Beth, revealing that she's an agent on the kidnappers' case and prepared Harry with a bulletproof vest and gun. Nicholas and Shay are arrested, and Mary and Bobby are reunited, much to Lloyd's dismay.
With their trip rendered pointless and their hopes for the trip crushed, Harry and Lloyd travel home on foot, after all their purchases were confiscated and their minibike broke down. They encounter a busload of bikini models on a national tour, but ignorantly reject an offer to be their "oil boys". Harry tells Lloyd that they will get their "break" one day, and they play a game of tag as they walk back to Rhode Island.
Also See
- Dumb and Dumber (TV Series)
- Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)
- Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
Sound Effects Used
- H-B HIT, CARTOON - SMALL BONK 01
- Hollywoodedge, Air Horn Blasts Truck PE079601
- Hollywoodedge, Crash Metal Shatter PE110301
- Hollywoodedge, Doppler Horn By LeftT PE079801
- Hollywoodedge, Forest Ambience Bird PE010101
- Hollywoodedge, Fine Healthy Turd CRT2053001
- Hollywoodedge, Fine Healthy Turd CRT2053002
- Hollywoodedge, Resonant Turd CRT2052901
- Hollywoodedge, Wood Door 3 Open SlamM PE180301 (Heard in a low pitch.)
- Hollywoodedge, Wretched Pellet Tu CRT2052801
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, CROW - COMMON CROW: CALLS, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, GOOSE - CANADA GOOSE: CALLS, GEESE, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, RAVEN, COMMON - CALLS, OTHER BIRDS IN B/G, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, BOING, CARTOON - SINGLE TIMP DOING (Heard once when the title card appears.)
- Sound Ideas, COMEDY, BOING - WOBBLY BOING 01 (Heard in the Song "Boom Shack-a-lak".)
- Sound Ideas, DOG, SHEPHERD - YELPING, OUTDOOR, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, FART - LARGE FART, HUMAN 05
- Sound Ideas, FART - LARGE FART, HUMAN 08