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‘Dumb and Dumber To’ begins production, but will audiences care?

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It’s been almost 20 years since Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels took their ill-fated road trip to Aspen, Colo., in “Dumb & Dumber.”

Since then Daniels’ career stock has risen, with the actor playing a number of more intelligent men including his current role as Will McAvoy in “The Newsroom,” which landed the actor his first Emmy this past Sunday.

In contrast, Carrey has continued to primarily trade in his unique brand of physical comedy, though he mixed it up a bit with memorable roles in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Truman Show.”

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Now the two are back with the long-delayed “Dumb and Dumber To.” Partnering with the film’s original filmmakers Bobby and and Peter Farrelly — two directors that have seen their stars fall in recent years with films such as “Movie 43” and “The Three Stooges” — the actors, now in their 50s, are revisiting their roles as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne. Production began Tuesday in Atlanta.

Much older but no more wiser, the boys are back on the road looking for a long-lost family member in the hope of securing a new kidney for one of them. (Nothing says comedy gold like dialysis jokes.)

Daniels is aware of the turn he’s taking, quipping at the Emmys that his journey Monday from the stage at the Nokia Theatre to the set of the film amounted to an “intellectual free-fall.”

And back in the press room, Emmy in hand, Daniels added, “There are some things we’re going to do in ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ that are going to make the toilet scene look lame.”

While ardent fans of the original remain, people who can still quote some of the memorable lines, do we need to see the ante upped on a scene that features explosive diarrhea (especially not when many R-rated comedies have already upped the ante since).

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Warner Bros. didn’t think so — the studio passed on the project in June before Universal Pictures picked it up.

Now it’s up to the two leads and the Farrelly Bros. to make the two dumbest characters in movies feel fresh. We’ll see what they can bring.

ALSO:

No new ‘Dumb and Dumber’ without Jim Carrey

Jeff Daniels looked shocked but is “happy to win”

Jeff Daniels confirms ‘Dumb and Dumber’ sequel on ‘Late Night’

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