Comedy Techniques in Dumb and Dumber

A detailed Summary of Comedy Techniques in Dumb and Dumber

One of my favorite comedy films is Dumb and Dumber. The movie is about a limo driver and his best friend, driving across the country to return a briefcase to a woman who had left it behind at the airport. And while driving along, run into and cause many outrageous mishaps. Many theories are present in this movie. You see the disparagement or aggression theories along with the superiority theory. Dumb and Dumber is written very well. It has a lot comedy techniques involved that makes it so funny.

At the begging of the movie, Lloyd (Jim Carrey) the limo driver witnesses that Mary (Lauren Holly), the woman he had just dropped off at the airport, had set her briefcase down and walked away without it. Watching the movie, we know that she had set the briefcase down on purpose. Two "mob" type people were preparing to pick up the drop off. Just before they get to it, Lloyd comes sliding in and snatches the briefcase up to return it to Mary. The superiority theory explains why we think this funny. We know that she had dropped the case off on purpose for someone else to pick it up. But Lloyd doesn't know that this is supposed to happen. Lloyd never catches up with Mary and vows to himself and his best friend Harry (Jeff Da

The second theory is the disparagement or aggression theory. I feel that this is the theory most present throughout the movie. We see a lot of comically cruel things happen. When the mobsters are looking for their briefcase at Lloyd and Harry's house, they kill Harry's pet bird to send them a "message". None of this is funny until Harry tells Lloyd that his bird had died. When Lloyd asks how, Harry says, "his head fell off, yeah, he was an old bird". After this comment we feel as if it is safe to laugh about the birds death. During a scene at the gas station, Harry accidentally pours gasoline on the ground and his feet. While lighting a woman's cigarette, he sets his legs on fire. He is in desperate pain but we can't help but laugh at it. We know that it is comically "safe". While on the road the duo ends up having to get rid of their car because of money problems. They purchase a scooter that gets forty miles to the gallon. When they eventually get to Aspen they are so cold that their snot and tears are frozen on their faces. We also see the bodily functions into play again. This time it is Harry who has to pee. Lloyd tells him to just let it go, "it will get us warm". When they stand up off the scooter, they are frozen together!

at Aspen is in Colorado. Another hilarious example of this theory is at a scene where Lloyd and Harry are pulled over for speeding. Lloyd had to pee very ba

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Approximate Word count = 954
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies