From In Living Color to the big screen Jim Carrey was lauded as being crazy, out of control, over the top, and something of a comedic genius since he did what he set out to do and made people laugh. When it came to finding out who the man behind the chuckles was though it’s been discovered that Carrey is kind of a disturbed individual at times since he’s not all laughs on the inside. Throughout the years his movies have changed along with his moods and while a lot of have valued his ability to entertain us with his hilarity he’s also taken on projects that have shown a very different and more sentimental side to his person that we didn’t fully expect. But then again, after his funniest gimmicks started to run a bit dry it was necessary for him to show that he could be just as serious as he was funny. Whether you agree with the man and his ideas today or not it’s hard to deny that he had a hand in shaping pop culture when he first came on the scene.
Here are five of Jim’s best movies.
5. Man on the Moon
There aren’t a lot of people that could have taken on the role of a guy like Andy Kaufman and nailed it so well. It’s kind of obvious that there were, like always, a few moments in this movie that were over-dramatized for effect and to entertain, but a lot of what Carrey did was still fairly impressive. After all, Andy Kaufman was another actor/comedian that, for his time, wasn’t fully understood and tended to irritate some people even while he made others laugh and wonder if he was a madman posing as a celebrity, or vice versa. Jim managed to draw on that manic energy to provide a truly impressive showing that some people couldn’t help but think was as spot on as it gets.
4. The Truman Show
When the world really is about you it can definitely mess with someone’s mind, but then again if such a thing as this ever happened you can imagine how many human rights violations might be cited since the invasion of privacy in this movie goes way above and beyond. But to Truman this is his world, a place that isn’t entirely perfect but is just enough so that he feels comfortable and secure, at least until he starts to open his eyes a bit. After so long you’ve got to imagine that the illusion would wear a bit thin since in the span of one lifetime you can’t help but think that a person can only remain blind for so long.
3. Dumb and Dumber
There are movies that are just so dumb that they’re good, and this qualifies. Now granted, the sequel to this one was nothing short of just terrible since they tried and failed to capitalize on a lot of the same gimmicks, but back in the day this was pure comedy gold. It was disgusting, it was crude, and it was absolutely over the top in some instances, but that was what made it. Harry and Lloyd were the perfect comedic duo back then, both of them were dumb as dirt and couldn’t help but think otherwise since they didn’t know any better. In a big way this movie was an explanation of how truly ignorant and stupid people can still function and survive in society.
2. Liar Liar
So maybe real lawyers liked this movie and maybe they didn’t, it’s all a matter of personal taste since on one hand it’s a work of fiction that’s meant to be hilarious, which it ended up being, and on the other hand, it did strive for some accuracy, which it kind of had and kind of didn’t thanks to the nature of the movie. Just imagine a lawyer that uses whatever ethical or moral loophole, hey it does happen, they can to get their client off the hook, and you’ll understand Fletcher that much better. Now imagine someone that HAS to tell the truth at all times no matter what, and you’ll get the idea of why their life might get turned upside down in a big hurry. After that it’s time to just sit back and laugh.
1. Ace Ventura
By this time he’d already been in a couple of movies, but this was the one that really got him noticed after his time on In Living Color since Ace Ventura was the one character that really took things to another level. You can easily say that the sequel was way too much like the first movie and that The Mask was just a bunch of the same jokes in a different wrapper, but Ace was the character that got him the most attention for a while and is still one of the most quotable characters he’s ever done.
Like him or not at this moment, Jim Carrey is still a comedy icon.
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