The airport limo and discovering the suitcase lead a long list
In the discussion (16)
- Lloyd’s despair over having no food, jobs, or intact pet is nominated
- Lloyd selling the headless parakeet to a blind child is nominated
- The boys-versus-Sea Bass diner sequence is nominated
- Cam Neely is identified as the Boston Bruins star who played Sea Bass
- The diner con is identified as a reference to Jeff Daniels in Something Wild
- Lloyd’s fantasy dinner performance and fight are nominated
- The hitman road trip and improvised “most annoying sound” are nominated
- Harry learning Lloyd carried extra gloves throughout the freezing trip is nominated
- The pair discovering the suitcase money is nominated
- The Lamborghini, hotel, tuxedo-shopping, and hundred-dollar-bill spree is nominated as a leading stretch
- The Snow Owl benefit is nominated
- The snowball fight is nominated
- The bathroom crisis is nominated as the famous scene
- The “so you’re telling me there’s a chance” exchange is nominated
- The airport limo conversation is selected as a favorite scene
- Discovering the suitcase money and the following hotel-and-benefit run is another favorite stretch
Character styling, visual gags, one-liners, and soundtrack
In the discussion (9)
- The two leads’ hair and Lloyd’s chipped tooth are praised as defining visual choices
- The mut-cuts car is praised
- Seabass’s hat is praised for its subtle slogan
- The heart-shaped hot tub is praised as a durable movie-hotel image
- The phone-booth punch is praised
- The failed 10-to-1 gambling wager is praised
- Rapid mistaken-word jokes about Aspen, the Monkees, soup du jour, John Deere, Samson, and “rapist wit” are praised
- The fake nostril mucus is praised
- The 1994-era soundtrack is praised for holding up
The Crash Test Dummies song during Lloyd and Harry’s split
In the discussion (1)
- The sad Crash Test Dummies cue during the friends’ breakup is selected
The confusing kidnapping plot
In the discussion (5)
- Mary dating Harry while her kidnapped husband is missing is questioned
- The kidnapping plot is criticized for leaving unclear why the FBI was not called
- Buying a ticket to Aspen after dropping the cash at the airport is questioned
- Leaving cash unattended in a heavily surveilled airport is criticized as an implausible ransom plan
- A suitcase swap is proposed as a more plausible exchange method
A Current Affair, Karen Duffy context, and Beck declining the theme song
In the discussion (4)
- The A Current Affair reference is judged obscure to younger viewers
- Karen Duffy’s contemporary MTV fame no longer registers for many viewers
- Beck reportedly declined use of Loser because the title felt insulting, missing association with a later classic
- A counterpoint says staying out of Dumb and Dumber may still have been a sensible choice for Beck
The FBI-agent gas-station sequence
In the discussion (1)
- The gas-station encounter is selected over Lloyd waiting at the bar
Three enduring lines about a chance, redemption, and pets
In the discussion (3)
- The line about being told there is a chance is identified as culturally durable
- The total-redemption line is identified as culturally durable
- The pets’ heads line is added as a third widely recognized quote
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Nicolas Cage
In the discussion (3)
Charles Rocket and Harland Williams
In the discussion (3)
- Charles Rocket is nominated as the kidnapping organizer and discussed through his Saturday Night Live history
- Harland Williams is nominated as the motorcycle officer
- One participant reveals a lifelong mistaken belief that the officer was John Cusack and is corrected
Tim Robbins, Jennifer Lawrence, and Amy Schumer
In the discussion (3)
Carrey’s tooth, filming sites, ghost story, alternate ending, Eastwood anecdote, improvisation, and watch gag
In the discussion (10)
- Jim Carrey reportedly removed a cap to expose his childhood-chipped tooth
- The Aspen material was filmed in Breckenridge, Colorado, and Park City, Utah
- The hotel exterior was the Stanley Hotel associated with The Shining
- The haunted hotel room is numbered 217 in the book and 237 in the film
- Carrey reportedly fled room 217 after three hours and has not explained why
- The alternate bikini-model-bus ending is rejected as the wrong ending
- Carrey reportedly refused an alternate ending in which the pair board the bikini-model bus
- Jeff Daniels reportedly learned Clint Eastwood had experienced a similar bathroom-date disaster
- The big gulfs exchange reportedly used nonactors and was improvised
- Lloyd’s watch displays a fake Casino brand rather than Casio
Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, and Lauren Holly
In the discussion (6)
- Jim Carrey is judged at or near his apex after three 1994 hits gave him extraordinary leverage
- Jeff Daniels is assigned an apex for Speed and Dumb and Dumber in the same year
- Lauren Holly is offered as a tentative apex choice
- The Farrelly brothers are assigned a later apex with There’s Something About Mary
- Aspen and snow owls are considered and rejected as apex choices
- A frozen tongue on a metal pole is assigned instead to A Christmas Story
Mary’s public date with Harry during the kidnapping
In the discussion (1)
- Mary spending a conspicuous day with Harry while her husband is missing remains unexplained
The existing sequel and prequel are acknowledged; no new remake is proposed
In the discussion (2)
- Lloyd ending up with Mary is raised, then rejected as a sequel premise
- The franchise is noted to have already produced both a sequel and a prequel
Spilled salt, snow owls, and suitcase value
In the discussion (7)
- Whether spilled salt is bad luck is discussed as a belief learned from the film
- Whether snowy owls need protection is asked without research
- The suitcase total is initially guessed at $100,000
- The Lamborghini’s stated $275,000 price implies a much larger total
- The weight of cash is used to constrain the estimate
- The suitcase lock is criticized for opening when thrown down
- Two participants settle near $500,000 while another guesses $625,000
They encounter a bus of male models
In the discussion (1)
- A second bus carrying oiled male athletes is proposed as the next-day event
The dog van, book, Casino watch, and Sea Bass hat
In the discussion (6)
- The dog-shaped van is the leading memorabilia choice
- The book Of Course You’re Angry is selected
- The Casino watch is proposed
- Sea Bass’s hat is proposed
- A prop-auction tangent considers the likely value and probable destruction of the van
- Hunger Games boots are given as an example of film memorabilia mixed into ordinary storage
Take opportunities as they come
In the discussion (2)
- “Take opportunities as they come” is selected as the life lesson
- The lesson is linked to the pair declining the bikini-model bus opportunity
Jeff Daniels over initial Jim Carrey suggestion
In the discussion (2)
Most Rewatchable Scene
