MOVIE REVIEWS: DUMB AND DUMBER TO

Most critics appear to be avoiding outright disapproval of Dumb and Dumber To, but they’re not showing much approval of it either. Manohla Dargis in the New York Times warns that there are "a whole lot of poop jokes" in the movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, she seems to suggest. "There are diaper gags, lots of them, mostly pretty funny." Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times notes that "the sequel’s definitely been dumbed down, which is not really an issue. If you buy a ticket to a movie called Dumb and Dumber To, dumb is precisely what you expect, want and possibly need." But she notes that with so much similar dumbness having filled the screens over the past 20 years, this film "feels strangely old-fashioned." To be sure more money has been spent on this film than on the original, but Sharkey notes, "more money doesn’t make all that much difference in executing a fart joke." Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe and Mail respectfully remarks that "over all, the movie is just funny enough to make you wish it were much better than it is." Some critics, however, are lambasting the film with no holds barred."This ghastly sequel," writes Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle, "is more than just not funny. … This is anti-funny, where every attempt at a joke is like a little rock thrown at your face." And David Hiltbrand in the Philadelphia Inaquire comments that the scenes of the movie represent "a bedraggled procession of potty and smutty humor, single entendres, gross sight gags, and mealy malaprops." On the other hand a handful of critics have given it mostly positive reviews. Peter Howell in the Toronto Star writes, "It’s just a pleasure to see Carrey and Daniels being dumb together again, both looking a little older but none the worse for wear.." And Ty Burr in the Boston Globe, while acknowledging that some of the joke misfire, says that over all, "the batting average is surprisingly high, not so much in belly laughs as in steady-state giggles prompted by expert sight gags and one-liners that display the heroes’ proud idiocy."