The Chiastic Structure of “Dumb and Dumber”

A: Lloyd pauses by side of the road, leers at beautiful woman.

B: Mary rejects Lloyd.

C: Dead parrot.

D: Boy scammed out of money/money spent.

E: Mental is poisoned.

F: Lloyd pees while in transit.

G: Exchange of vehicles: van traded in for moped.

H: Harry walks back to Providence/ Harry and Lloyd get back together.

F’: Harry pees while in transit.

G’: Exchange of vehicles: moped traded in for Lambo.

E’: Harry given laxatives.

D’: Kidnappers scammed out of money/money spent.

C’: Dead owl.

B’: Mary rejects Lloyd.

A’: Bus of beautiful women pauses by side of the road, women leer at Lloyd and Harry.

H’: Harry and Lloyd get back together/Harry and Lloyd walk back to Providence

It’s interesting that the very end of the film calls back to the center of the film. Ancient stories often placed the thematic climax of a story in the middle, modern stories place the climax at the conclusion. Dumb and Dumber sort of does both.

Side note: while I haven’t watched it with a pen and paper in hand, I’m pretty sure that Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood is also chiastically structured. It’s definitely the most tightly structured film of the last twenty-five years.