Throughout the years there have been some actors that are truly able to call on some inner level of crazy that seems to sustain them in a way that is simply horrifying to look upon sometimes, and in some cases is actually scary enough to be funny. Jack Nicholson has been a master of crazy for a long time now, and The Shining is one of those movies that allowed him to show it. In a way this face swap is truly insane and more than a bit disturbing since Jim Carrey being morphed onto Jack Nicholson’s body is enough to give a person the heebie jeebies. Even more so is the fact that we get to hear Nicholson’s voice come out of Carrey’s mouth, and the manic look in his eyes is enough to indicate that he’s already gone around the bend and forgotten just where he started in the first place. In some ways it seems to mirror the thought that the author, Stephen King, might have been quite similar in his approach to writing at times, but whether or not that’s true is hard to know. What is evident though is that if there’s ever another remake of The Shining in the next decade, Jim Carrey might actually be a valid choice for the part of Jack Torrance.
It wouldn’t be the first serious thriller that Carrey has been cast in after all, considering that he was the lead in The Number 23, a movie that was inherently creepy and led to a twist that was eventually uncovered only a short time before it occurred. He plays a mild-mannered dog catcher that reads a book his wife discovered, a story telling the tale of a man that slowly slips into a psychosis that’s difficult not to feel as he becomes obsessed with the number 23 and starts to slip slide into a psychotic state that is only a mask for what really lies beneath the life he created for himself. In this movie Carrey showed that he can easily transcend comedy and become a truly creepy individual as well as someone that you might want to watch for more than a good laugh. While it’s more than evident that he’s been the target of a lot of controversy lately it’s also just as evident that he’s still a good actor and worth the effort of bringing back to the screen. It’s not likely that The Shining will be remade in the next decade or so, but if it was then he’d be one of the best names to find on the list for the lead character.
Something about Jim Carrey is kind of creepy altogether but usually people are willing to see him in the best light since obviously he’s been a funny and engaging personality for a long time. That tends to hide away a personality though that’s been rather troubled over his lifetime, as he’s admitted as much in more than one interview. And even if not everything he’s said is true or there have been some moments that he’s glossed over, it would seem that by listening to him and watching his mannerisms that he’s still got something of a troubled mind deep beneath the surface where a lot of people can’t see. This doesn’t mean he’s a messed up or psychotic person thankfully, but it does mean that his facial expressions and his mannerisms from time to time do manage to express just what’s going on beneath the pleasing face he presents to the world. Given that he does look somewhat similar to Jack Nicholson in this mashup, not spot on but close enough that one has to keep looking to make sure it’s an actual effect and not a recreation, it’s fair to say that he’s someone you could use for a variety of roles that might give him a great deal more versatility than has been seen in the past.
I can already hear people arguing about this, perhaps thinking that Jim has been as versatile as anyone could possibly be in the course of his lifetime. Honestly I would caution anyone against that thought since he’s had two major settings with a few minor ones thrown in throughout much of his career, and one of those was born when he was on In Living Color, where his voices and impersonations were allowed to run wild. Another was when he decided to take on roles such as Andy Kaufman and starred in The Truman Show. While he’s shown other talents throughout the years Jim Carrey definitely has a default setting, serious and utterly loony. This cold, calculating phase is something he’s done a couple of times, but it seems to really work here because it brings out the danger of the moment and the idea that anyone talking to this character should be very, VERY afraid.
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