Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd

Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd is a prequel comedy set in 1986, showing how Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas first became friends. Harry has been taught at home by his mother and enters high school for the first time, while Lloyd has been living in the school basement with his father, the janitor Ray. The two quickly bond over their shared lack of common sense. Their arrival suits Principal Collins and cafeteria worker Mrs. Heller, who plan to create a fake special-education class so they can divert a large grant intended for it. Harry and Lloyd enthusiastically recruit other students for the program, drawing the suspicion of Jessica, a reporter for the school newspaper.

The film was directed by Troy Miller, who wrote the screenplay with Robert Brener. It followed Miller's Jack Frost and Run Ronnie Run and came before several later concert films. Derek Richardson and Eric Christian Olsen play Harry and Lloyd, with Mimi Rogers as Mrs. Dunne, Luis Guzmán as Ray, Rachel Nichols as Jessica and Eugene Levy as Principal Collins. The credited cast runs to 41 names.

Made for about 19 million dollars, it took in roughly twice that worldwide. Audience scores are low: on IMDb it holds 3.5 out of 10 from around 44,000 votes, and on TMDB 4.2 out of 10 from under a thousand. Critics were harsher still, averaging 3.1 out of 10 across 117 reviews, well below even the modest audience figures.