Happy 50th Jim Carrey!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 1:20PM 
A very happy ½ century mark to Jim Carrey! He seems to have given up on chasing Oscar and returned to the generally more lucrative world of high concept multiplex comedy. We kind of miss his dramedic self.
Favorite Carrey performances off the top of my head.
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- The Truman Show (1998)
...and yes, I'd have nominated him for both of those. - Man on the Moon (1999)
...one of those rare cases where Oscar got really stingy about loving biopic mimicry. - Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- I Love You Phillip Morris (2010)
- The Mask (1994)
- Bruce Almighty (2003)
- Liar Liar (1997)
- Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
It's true. I never saw the comedic blockbusters involving his talking ass or doubled idiocy.
Yours?
The first time I ever saw him was on the shortlived sitcom "The Duck Factory" which I watched as a kid because I wanted to be an animator when I grew up. The peak of my interest was The Truman Show. Strange that that movie isn't talked about more.
The Duck Factory, The Truman Show, Burt Wonderstone
He's currently filming Burt Wonderstone with Steve Carell. Carell plays the title role but they're playing rival magicians in Las Vegas... Carrey being threatened by the newer magician Carell. Could certainly be fun but was no one worried about some sort of Evan Almighty curse? That last time Carrey passed the baton to Carell it didn't work out so well. Not that critical favor matters to Hollywood when you can break $100 million just by showing up.
10|25|50|75|100, Burt Wonderstone, Jim Carrey, comedy
Reader Comments (26)
He is not my favorite actor. My favorite performance of his was in "Man In the Moon" followed by "Eternal Sunshine..."
Oh, Jim Carrey. I remember being livid at the lack of Oscars (nominations, even!) for both The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine, especially Truman, as my cinephile flower was just starting to bud at that time. The Mask remains a favorite, though I loved it much more when it first came out (I was at the exact right age for it), although Batman Forever has faded slightly with time (except for Nicole. And Chris O'Donnell, who is still on my list!). He is also one of the best awards presenters of all time (remember the Woody and Buzz dolls?). I keep pulling for him to host, but I fear he's pretty much past his sell-by date now. Those trailers for Mr. Popper's Penguins made me die inside. It's a pity the Academy never gave him his due when they had the chance.
Truman Show was just brilliant, talk about perfect casting, Tom Hooper was saying it;s one of his favourite films on the BBC just the other night ... I liked him in Eternal Sunshine also, and Cable Guy is grossly underrated.
I was mad that Laura Linney wasn't nominated for Truman Show also, she deserved not just a nomination but a win that year.
When he's on he can be brilliant, and when he's off he can make you want to wrench your own soul from your body and spit on it. I love him in Truman and Eternal Sunshine with all my heart, and I have a very very soft spot for Dumb and Dumber, which I don't care never fails to make me laugh.
When's the next Oscar predix update?
//I keep pulling for him to host, but I fear he's pretty much past his sell-by date now//
But of course Billy Crystal isn't...actually I'm not sure how good Carrey would do as a host before a live audience putting the guests at their ease and being entertaining in a coherent...nope, that wouldn't work at all. His shtick is best in small doses. (I would have so rooted for Jackman and Hathaway together - it's not entirely Hathaway's fault, but she needed a pro on her side to keep things going and show her the ropes, not another novice host. but, nevermind that.)
I was first exposed to him on the series "In Living Color", and should I be surprised that from a show produced, written, and starring an African-American family (the Wayans), that the only person to achieve major fame was the show's only white guy? I always thought that ironic (but predictable). I also was subjected (thanks to a former roommate) to a part of the very homophobic Ace Ventura, which scars me to this day.
On the other hand I thought he was wonderful and very much underrated in Eternal Sunshine; Kate Winslet got all the love and attention (and nominations) but it was a duet and it wouldn't have worked without the right partner. And it was in quieter, more dramatic moments that he really shone and that have stayed with me, over the comedy.
I've watched a portion of I Love You, Philip Morris, and while I felt he was "playing gay" rather than being a person who happens to be gay, I thought that he and McGregor captured perfectly the way in which love/lust can drive us to joy and madness in the prison/separation sequences.
I've never heard of "Doing Time on Maple Drive", the only one on this list I am not at all familiar with. I wish he would take some of the bazillions from those dumb comedies he keeps making and use it to make more film like Sunshine. Did Hollywood really not give a damn after that amazing performance?
Janice: Wasn't Jenniffer Lopez a dancer also in In Living Color?
Janice: Wasn't Jenniffer Lopez a dancer also in In Living Color?
Janice: Wasn't Jenniffer Lopez a dancer also in In Living Color?
I love Truman Show, too. And it gets better every year. I'm remember thinking Laura Linney deserved a nomination for it too.
"It's not professional!"
I love him and was mesmerized by his performance in I Love You Philip Morris. Perfect.
Doing Time on Maple Drive was such a powerful experience when I saw it back in high school.
great list but can't leave out guilty pleasure DUMB & DUMBER. some seriously classic Carrey moments there
still stunned Oscar passed him over for THE TRUMAN SHOW.
Odd you go for the Batman Forever performance over I Love You Philip Morris and The Mask. Not that it's a BAD perf, just it goes WAY too far over the top. Haven't seen Doing Time on Maple Drive. You're not really missing much by skipping Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura. Worst performance: The Number 23. The Razzies gave the Worst Lead Actor win to Eddie Murphy for Norbit...solely for the halfway decent performance he gave as the title character. (Razzies nominate performances based on character gender, not actor gender.) If he were nominated for all three of his characters, that would make perfect sense. Because Murphy was just nominated for the title character in lead, though, I can't see how Jim Carrey or Cuba Gooding Jr. (horrendous in Norbit, likely worse in Daddy Day Camp) didn't take the Razz.
I still hold a grudge that THE TRUMAN SHOW didn't get nominated for Best Actor and Best Picture but I guess they had to make room for that horrid 'Life is Beautiful' and Roberto Benigni.
That that man has an Oscar (actually, two, he also won Best Foreign Film!) and Jim Carrey, Edward Norton and Ian McKellen (to mention the two I find most egregiously snubbed that year, one of them should have won) don't is in itself a travesty.
And I agree with Mike, I'd also have nominated Laura Linney.
And Philip Glass was also not nominated for one of the most scintilating, brilliant scores of the 90s.
Oy, Academy.
Anyway... The man should be asked to host. I don't know why nobody invites him.
Don't they remember THIS?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE5IHVfDMVw&feature=related
He killed it.
Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber are comedy classics, especially the latter. Don't be a snob.
Jorge: Yeah, or Jeff "I will be remembered as The Dude forever now" Bridges knocking out of the park with utter naturalism.
Nathaniel,
I think you and I are the only people who saw "Duck Factory." I just flashed back in my head to the opening animation. I have to agree with JA though; "When he's on he can be brilliant, and when he's off he can make you want to wrench your own soul from your body and spit on it." He's very much like Robin Williams in that way.
Volvagia: Yes, The Dude. How could I forget The Big Lebowski is from 98? Well, so that makes 2 egregious snubs and 2 robbed winners. Yikes.
Happy to see Doing Time on Maple Drive on your list; a small dramatic role where I thought he was very strong, obviously foreshadowing the aforementioned dramedies he was so good in.
And I'm surprised not to see more love for Dumb and Dumber; a comedy classic that I watch to this day and can quote almost verbatim.
Janice -- doing time on maple drive was a television film about a dysfunctional family with a stern father. Carrey was the alcoholic son and the other son was a closeted gay. I remember it being great but maybe i just saw it at the right time in my life?
Christine & JA yep, JA... you hit that right on the head.
Volvagia sometimes over the top is exactly what a film is asking for and needs... especially when the actor in question is often most brilliant when he's really BIG. (many actors are terrible when they go big but it's part of Carrey's gift)
Pedro: You're right re: Lopez (at least according to imbd, which I just looked up): of course I was thinking of the main cast.
I'm not asking for him to be subtle (Schumacher Batman = you'd be breaking tone), but I still think he might have reined some of his performance beats back a little, especially during the ending.
Jorge: Haven't seen Gods and Monsters, but Tom Hanks' Saving Private Ryan performance was the weirdest inclusion for Lead Actor that year. He does NOTHING. Literally NOTHING and neither of the Globe winners (Carrey or Michael Caine) managed to slide in. The Big Lebowski was, unfortunately, on no one's radar that year.