Dumb and Dumber: When Harry Met Lloyd is a 2003 American comedy film and the prequel to Dumb and Dumber (1994). The film was directed by Troy Miller and based on the characters created by the Farrelly brothers from the original film. The film was poorly received by critics; however, it was a mild domestic box office success considering its budget, taking in just under $40 million. It is considered to be the one of the worst films ever made. The subtitle is inspired by the film When Harry Met Sally...
Plot[]
In 1986, Harry Dunne (Derek Richardson), a home schooled boy, finally gets his chance to go to regular school. At the same time, Lloyd Christmas (Eric Christian Olsen), who has been adopted and exchanged several times until he was accepted by Ray (Luis Guzman), the school janitor. Harry bumps into Lloyd on the way, in search for a treasure his mother (Mimi Rogers) asked him to find, and as if it were destiny, the two instantly became the best of friends. Lloyd introduces Harry to his 'friend', Turk (Elden Henson), the school bully whose main function in life appears to be making Lloyd's life hell. After putting Lloyd in a dustbin, he hoists the two friends up a flagpole. Meanwhile, the corrupt Principal Collins (Eugene Levy) searching for a way to get a large amount of money to get a condominium in Wakiki, Hawaii. Seeing Harry and Lloyd getting hoisted on a flagpole, Principal Collins establishes a 'special needs' class to swindle $100,000 from the local community. Obviously, Harry and Lloyd are more than thrilled to help, and thus find themselves signing up people who are 'different' for the class. These include a reluctant Turk; a teen named Toby (Josh Braaten) who broke his leg in a skateboarding accident - and whom Lloyd believes is a 'little crippled boy'; Toby's gorgeous girlfriend, Terri (Teal Reddman); geeky Lewis (Shia LaBeouf), whom Harry and Lloyd believe is a centaur after seeing him half-dressed in his horse mascot costume; Cindy (Michelle Krusiec), also known as "Ching-Chong," a Chinese exchange student who later becomes Turk's girlfriend; and Carl (William Lee Scott), a badly injured football player obsessed with his sport.
Jessica Matthews (Rachel Nichols), a headstrong student, is suspicious of Principal Collins' sudden contribution. Jessica asks Harry for information. Harry, who thinks that she is flirting with him, turns to Lloyd for courtship tips. A repulsive disaster involving Jessica's bathroom and a melted chocolate bar that looks like feces makes her father (Bob Saget) freak out, inadvertently directing her attention to Lloyd. Soon, Harry and Lloyd get into a fight over Jessica, without her knowing it. Inevitably, the two make amends when Harry and Lloyd realize that they were nothing without each other. They find Principal Collins' chest in his office which contains evidence of every scam he ever pulled. It so happens that the Special Needs class was asked to build a float for President's Day at that time; instead of building a float with George Washington as the main attraction, they change it to look like Principal Collins with repeated recordings of his evidence. During the parade, Principal Collins is arrested before he can get away with the check, and Harry and Lloyd are regarded as heroes. However, just like in the original film, the duo's advances to Jessica were in vain, since it turned out that she had a boyfriend. As the couple rode off, Harry and Lloyd vowed never to fight and risk their friendship over a woman, again; that vow was repeatedly broken. As the guys head home, they are approached by the Felcher Twins (Julia and Chandra Costello) in a sports car, who offer to take them to a huge party. Harry and Lloyd turn them down, and Harry gets covered in mud. Jessica's father accidentally hits him with his car, with Harry getting his windshield covered with mud, leaving her father to think he got his car covered in feces.
Cast[]
- Derek Richardson as Harry Dunne
- Lucas Gregory as 8-year-old Harry
- Eric Christian Olsen as Lloyd Christmas
- Colin Ford as Young Lloyd (uncredited)
- Rachel Nichols as Jessica
- Eugene Levy as Principal Collins
- Mimi Rogers as Mrs. Dunne
- Luis Guzman as Ray the Janitor
- Cheri Oteri as Ms. Heller
- Bob Saget and Juila Duffy as Jessica's parents
- Elden Henson as Turk
Production[]
Much of the film was filmed in Atlanta. Many of the school scenes were filmed at Walton High School in Marietta and at the Atlanta International School in Fulton County. The Farrelly brothers who wrote and directed the original Dumb and Dumber, had no involvement in this film whatsoever, nor did Jim Carrey or Jeff Daniels, who played Lloyd and Harry in the original film. Although Peter Farrelly has never seen the prequel, he went on record as saying that he holds no ill-will against the movie and wished the filmmakers well on it. This marks the first time that a sequel has been made to a Carrey film for which he declined to reprise his role; the other sequels were Son of the Mask, Evan Almighty and Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective.
Reception[]
Dumb and Dumber: When Harry Met Lloyd was universally panned by film critics, receiving a rating of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as a 19/100 rating on Metacritic. The film was nominated for three Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Screenplay, Worst Screen Couple (Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson), and Worst Remake or Sequel. Reviewers also criticized the film for its numerous anachronisms, including use of Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby, which was released four years after the film's setting of 1986, use of modern currency, merchandise with label designs that are not of the time, and many appearances of vehicles newer than 1986.