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Kim Hollis: Do you think that Dumb and Dumber To will serve as the beginning of a comeback for Jim Carrey, who has been struggling for relevance in recent years? Or is this just an anomaly brought about by people who are nostalgic for Harry and Lloyd?

Matthew Huntley: I'm leaning toward the latter, at least as far as Jim Carrey's box office clout is concerned. I still think he still has a long career ahead of him, because he's definitely talented, but I don't think he'll consistently fill theaters like he once did. I think this is a combination of too many recent misses (Mr. Popper's Penguins, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone) and that his novelty, which started with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and ended with Bruce Almighty, has now worn off. It seems this is inevitable for any box office draw, including now-former Titans like Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Adam Sandler.

Jason Barney: I don’t mean to take anything away from Jim Carey, Jeff Daniels, or Universal but they were extremely lucky this weekend. A lot of factors came into play. My analysis accepts that this could have been a bad miss, but the result has turned into something much different. There probably was some nostalgia. Jim Carrey was a very significant part of comedy during the 1990s and for the last 10 years has been struggling with his prior success. He is getting work, but his role in Kick-Ass 2 was a little different than the zany and energetic actor we all remember. Even some of his recent comedic projects like Mr. Popper’s Penguins (which I liked) have been more reserved. For Carrey, Dumb and Dumber To is definitely an indication his is still significant, he just needs to pick his spots.

Edwin Davies: I'd be very surprised if this marks a comeback for Jim Carrey unless he starts bringing all the old favorites back as well. (Ace Ventura 3! The Mask 2! Truman's Other Show!) The last decade has been something of a difficult transition for him; he tried to take on more dramatic roles (and hit it out of the park with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is still his best work) and tried to evolve beyond his manic persona, but the audience by and large wasn't willing to follow him. Dumb and Dumber To seems to be an acceptance of that reality, but it's really just a more successful version of something like Yes Man, which was a pretty deliberate attempt to recapture the feel of his '90s heyday. I'm sure Carrey will do good work in the future and that he'll have more hits, but this feels like a last hurrah for a persona that he had tried very hard to move away from.

Kim Hollis: I'd agree with Edwin that it seemed as though Carrey had been trying to pull away from his Ace Ventura/Dumb and Dumber roots. He had been taking more serious (and probably more rewarding roles) and even if he wasn't the go-to guy for comedy anymore, he was respected both as a comedian and an actor. He's had several misses to be sure, but people don't rail against him the way they do some other actors who seem to have fallen from wide public approval. I don't necessarily see this as a comeback vehicle for him. I actually think he'd be better off with a small but critically beloved film as the means to spur that on.

David Mumpower: To me, Jim Carrey is the arrogant jerk who always wants more than he deserves. His constant pandering to get an Oscar nomination is a great example of how he can't be happy with being more successful than almost every other comedic actor in the world. Ethically, I actually agree with him about his Kick-Ass 2 stance. Still, he didn't give back the money, which means he wasn't that torn up about the situation. Even though I have been laughing at his jokes going all the way back to In Living Color, I don't like him as a person. I believe that is the consensus opinion, too. In the social media, that sort of constant popularity contest problem matters.

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