The Role: Harry Dunne Cast Instead: Jeff Daniels It's hard to imagine anyone but Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the titular roles for the Farrelly Brothers madcap comedy, and even though news of an impending sequel aren't quite as exciting as Carrey probably hopes, the original was an over-riding success, thanks to the ingredients meshing together in just the right way. If you don't believe me, imagine Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider in the leads, and how thoroughly awful that might be. And while Carrey was always nailed down, Daniels' casting came later, and according to interviews with Cage, Carrey and he wanted to work together, and the rubber-faced Mask star had specifically ear-marked Dumb & Dumber as the project. Thankfully for everyone involved, Cage passed, and went to work on Leaving Las Vegas instead, bagging an Oscar in the process. Why He Would Have Ruined It... Jeff Daniels was the perfect foil to Jim Carrey in the original buddy comedy, and Cage has never shown the kind of broad comedic chops needed to for a character like Harry. And while he proved himself at least slightly self-aware with the Adam West-riffing Big Daddy performance, and even his drawling, knuckle-headed good guy in Con Air, you get the sense that Cage takes himself a little too seriously to have gone in for the toilet and Thankfully, his comedic chops have been reserved for indies - where he succeeds usually as the victim of jokes or situational comedy - and we are yet to see him attempt a Robert DeNiro style transition into more clownish territory. Because frankly, who the hell wants to see that?
