Jim Carrey

One of the most successful comedy actors of the past decade has to be jim carrey. Since his breakthrough roles with in living color and ace ventura, jim carrey has been incredibly popular with young audiences. Canadians are proud to claim jim carrey as their own, as he was born and raised in Newmarket and Aldershot, Ontario.

 

Toronto has had a jim carrey star on the Canadian Walk of Fame for many years. Like many other comedians, jim carrey started his career in stand-up and sketch comedy but his real fame has come from movies. Those jim carrey movies like ace ventura, Dumb & Dumber, and the mask brought jim carrey fast fame with children and teenage audiences. While critics tended to hate films like ace ventura and the mask, the popularity jim carrey achieved with his physical comedy was undeniable. Now jim carrey has moved away from strictly comedy and jim carrey movies now include dramatic features like The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and The Number 23. Still, jim carrey is at his best when he finds a way to bring humour into these jim carrey movies.

 

It was in Toronto in the 1980s that jim carrey began his career in stand-up. At Yuk Yuk’s, the comedy club, jim carrey was headlining shows before he was even nineteen. Soon jim carrey moved to Los Angeles. After doing more stand-up and comedy tours, jim carrey met Damon Wayans. The Wayans brothers cast jim carrey in their new sketch show, in living color. While jim carrey had tried out for Saturday Night Live, it was in living color that allowed jim carrey to really make his mark. A sketch show in the vein of SNL, in living color featured mostly African American comedians, as well as musical acts and in living color fly girls. On in living color, jim carrey played a variety of comic roles. Some of the most famous jim carrey roles from in living color include Fire Marshall Bill and Vera de Milo, a female bodybuilder. People began to notice jim carrey as a possible comedy star when he was featured on in living color. Shortly before in living color was cancelled, jim carrey released the hit that would let him break into movies with ace ventura. Out of all the early jim carrey movies, ace ventura and the mask are probably the most memorable.

 

In 1994, jim carrey had a box office hit with ace ventura. In ace ventura, jim carrey plays a pet detective who must find the mascot of the Miami Dolphins before the Super Bowl. In ace ventura, jim carrey starred alongside a young Courtney Cox. Much of the humour in ace ventura comes from just how wacky jim carrey can be. The costume jim carrey wears as ace ventura consists of yellow pants and a colourful Hawaiian shirt, topped off with his hair styled into a pompadour. Very quickly jim carrey movies became infamous among critics (and parents) for their bad taste and infantile humour. Probably one of the most famous bits in ace ventura is when jim carrey turns around, bends over, and proceeds to talk out of his butt. Kids everywhere loved jim carrey immediately. If there was one demographic these early jim carrey movies like ace ventura were popular with, it was definitely the adolescent boys. In the same year ace ventura was released, jim carrey also starred in Dumb & Dumber and the mask. All three of these jim carrey movies were panned by critics but loved by audiences.

 

In the mask, jim carrey plays a man with few social skills and no real luck with women. Then jim carrey finds the mask, an ancient wooden artefact with mystical powers. When jim carrey puts it on, he becomes the mask. Like in ace ventura, jim carrey is costumed in a bright coloured and wacky costume. In the mask, jim carrey wears a yellow zoot suit and a green mask that covers his face and accentuates his features. While ace ventura and the mask were aimed for all ages, both jim carrey movies were especially popular with children. In the mask, jim carrey stars opposite Cameron Diaz in one of her first leading film roles. While jim carrey is enjoying the mask, he must also keep it from the bad guys as it has too much power. The message of the mask shows that too much power can make even a nice guy like jim carrey do bad things. Of course, Cameron Diaz falls for the jim carrey behind the mask and the mask is tossed away in the end. While not everyone liked the older jim carrey movies, jim carrey has certainly started to round out his filmography in the past ten years. Rather than just making lowbrow comedies like ace ventura and the mask, jim carrey has moved his acting talents further in critically acclaimed films like The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The first two of these jim carrey movies actually earned jim carrey Golden Globes for best actor. These more recent jim carrey movies are perhaps his best quality films but there is something to be said for the physical comedy of jim carrey. Some jim carrey movies like Liar Liar combine the physical comedy jim carrey is known for with humour that is a bit more tasteful.

 

However, these jim carrey movies do not tend to do as well with the jim carrey fans. Personally, I think jim carrey is best in jim carrey movies like The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, where he plays a comic role in a dramatic situation. In a lot of ways, jim carrey is like a modern clown, playing both comic and tragic. In many more recent jim carrey movies, the line between comedy and tragedy is blurred. These more recent jim carrey movies tend to speak to a greater human condition, which is what makes jim carrey an actor to be taken seriously.