Story
Dumb and Dumber To is a sequel to the 1994 American comedy, Dumb and Dumber. It’s about Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels), two friends who haven’t seen each other in decades. Lloyd has been in an assisted care facility, as part of a prank on Harry, who has remained loyal throughout the years. Harry tells Lloyd that he is suffering from a medical condition and needs a kidney transplant to survive.
Harry and Lloyd discover a 20-year-old postcard from a woman that Harry had a relationship with. The postcard says that the woman is pregnant and has a daughter. After contacting the woman, the two learn that Harry’s daughter Fanny (Rachel Melvin) was put up for adoption. They set out on a long journey to find her.
Themes
Violence
Dumb and Dumber To has some violence. For example:
Sexual references
Dumb and Dumber To has considerable sexual innuendo and crude humour. For example:
- One scene implies that Lloyd provides sexual pleasure to an elderly woman with his hand.
- One scene refers to a girl who is menstruating.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Dumb and Dumber To has mild references to substance use. For example:
- Characters drink beer in social settings.
- At one stage, a character appears to be making meth.
Nudity and sexual activity
Dumb and Dumber To shows mild sexual activity and partial nudity. For example:
- Flashback sequences show brief glimpses of a character’s sexual history, including kissing scenes and general sexual touching.
- A man and woman almost have sex in a van.
- One scene shows a man’s bare bottom.
Product placement
There is some product placement in Dumb and Dumber To, including references to Toyota cars, Reebok and Coca Cola.
Coarse language
Dumb and Dumber To includes infrequent coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Dumb and Dumber To is a comedy about friendship. Harry and Lloyd are long-term best friends who have always enjoyed performing pranks on each other.
The movie demonstrates that as long as you have someone watching out and caring for you, you can overcome obstacles of any kind. It also highlights the personal growth that can result from taking risks, making personal sacrifices and not taking life too seriously in general.
Like the first Dumb and Dumber, this sequel contains crude humour, sexual references and coarse language. It also contains racial stereotypes and humour at the expense of people with disability. This movie deserves its M rating, and we don’t recommend it for children aged under 15 years.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include the following:
- Despite their problems, friendships can enrich a person’s life in many ways.
- Lying and deceiving people can be dangerous and have negative consequences for other people.
- Try not to take life too seriously, and remember to find humour even in serious situations.
Dumb and Dumber To could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues such as the:
- consequences that apparently funny pranks might have on other people
- impact of racism and stereotyping on others
- struggles of people who live with physical disability.