The classic saga of two brain-dead numbskulls who undertake a cross country trek to return a "lost" ransom briefcase, having mindlessly intercepted it at the drop-off. En route, they blow through sleazy motels and truck stop bathrooms, swapping rides and crossing wires with all manner of similarly dim-witted, off-color characters.

Ah man, it's such a Farrelly Brothers movie. Thick-headed humor, as easy and superficial as it comes, with an unrelenting time capsule for a soundtrack and a pair of lead performances so good they lift the whole mess into something that almost transcends mere stupidity. Almost. No two ways about it: this is the Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels show, start to finish. Who else could ad-lib "the most annoying sound in the world" into something that's still so funny after thirty years? I certainly can't imagine another duo pulling off those famously terrible peach-and-baby-blue tuxes. The whole film seems to exist as a vehicle for whatever the stars felt like doing or saying that day, with said Farrelly siblings more than happy to let the cameras roll, and we're all the richer for it. Even the throwaway quips are solid gold. Carrey was in the midst of an early career apex at the time, with _Ace Ventura_ and _The Mask_ having already topped the box office that same year, but Daniels is, unexpectedly, there with him every step of the way. It's a showcase of impressively loose, laugh-out-loud physical comedy from a guy who wasn't (and still isn't) known for that type of work.

A not-insignificant number of jokes have curdled over time (wow, I did not remember so much homophobia) and there's no escaping the numbing, jaw-dropping idiocy of it all, but the key scenes still stand tall, the sheer force of personality is strong and there's no denying the amount of fun everyone was obviously having on-set. Sometimes it's okay to be big, loud and dumb, especially with a title like that. Call it truth in advertising.