Dumb And Dumberer
New Line Home Entertainment
Cast: Eric Christian Olsen, Derek Richardson, Mimi Rogers, Cheri Oteri, Eugene Levy
Extras: Commentary Track, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Bloopers, Trailers
Rating:
The silliness and ingenuity in absurdity is the trademark of the Farelly Brothers’ 1994 comedy ’Dumb And Dumber.’ Now, New Line Home Entertainment is serving up a sequel to this great film, entitled ’Dumb And Dumberer,’ but somehow it just doesn’t manage to make ends meet. The film never knows whether it wants to simply be a rip off from the original or if it wants to have an own identity. Sadly, as a result it falls short on both ends, leaving us with a very ’dumb’ movie in many ways – in which Cheri Oteri and Eugene Levy’s appearance are truly the only real highlights.
New Line is serving up ’Dumb And Dumberer’ as a Platinum Series release in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. As expected, the image is flawless. Absolutely clean and without speckles, the image is rich and reveals a very high level of detail. Colors are vibrant, rich and always natural looking, while the blacks create deep shadows that never break up. The compression has also been handled well, making sure the image retains all of its outstanding definition.
The audio comes as a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital track on the DVD, complemented by a Dolby Stereo track. The mix is rich and dynamic, making very good and frequent use of the surround channels. A wide frequency response and good dynamic range make sure the film sounds as good as it possibly can.
The DVD contains a commentary track featuring director Troy Miller and actors Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson. It surprises me how seriously the guys take this film in many ways and how they can actually watch and comment on it without having to admit how bad it really is. Still, for fans, here you are offered a lot of additional production insight.
’Casting the Perfect Dummies’ is a 25-minute featurette full of cast and crew interviews, telling viewers how the cast of the film was put together and how the attempt was made to maintain the feel of the original, yet create something new. A lot of the audition tapes are also included here, making this actually quite funny.
A ’Making Of’ featurette is also included taking a look at the shoot of the film with a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.
A selection of deleted scenes are also included, complete with an optional commentary that tells more about where in the story they belong and why they were excised. A few Bloopers are also included as well as a variety of trailers.
How successful ’Dumb And Dumberer’ is at achieving its goals, is anyone’s guess. Not surprisingly, New Line Home Entertainment is delivering a rock solid DVD here, though given the film’s weaknesses, you may want to check it out as a rental first to see if the movie is really your bag.
