Jim Carreywas one of the most famous comedy actors of the 1990s, whose acclaimed film roles have remained cornerstones of popular culture. With a bombastic and over-the-top comedic style, Carrey’s unique blend of physical humor, contorted facial expressions, distinctive vocal inflections, and slapstick mannerisms meant he appealed to viewers of all ages who connected with his outrageous brand of comedy. Adding to this, Carrey had real skill as a dramatic actor, and as the 1990s progressed, he began tackling more challenging, layered, and thought-provoking film roles.
Many of thebest Jim Carrey movieswere released during the 1990s, and in 1994 alone, he had three of his biggest successes following the back-to-back releases ofAce Ventura: Pet Detective,The Mask, andDumb and Dumber. Carrey’s powerful performances in the biopicMan on the Moonand the insightful satireThe Truman Showalso meant he stood out among other comedy actors during this era.The 1990s was a fantastic time in Carrey’s careerthat was packed with memorable and still beloved movies.
11Simon Birch (1998)
Jim Carrey as Adult Joe Wenteworth / Narrator
The overtly sentimentalSimon Birchwas somewhat of an anomaly in Jim Carrey’s 1990s career. As a mushy story that focused more on pulling on the viewer’s heartstrings than telling a truly compelling narrative,Simon Birthtold the story of 12-year-old Joe Wenteworth and his best friend Simon Birch, a boy born with dwarfism. As two oddball kids who found meaningful friendship with one another, Carrey played the grown-up version of Joe and narrated this unabashedly melodramatic tearjerker.
While some viewers might connect with young Simon, an eccentric boy whose big personality more than made up for his small stature, others will seeSimon Birch’sstory of faith and friendship as emotionally manipulative. In truth,Simon Birchwas too sweet for its own good and crumbled under the weight of its bloated, nearly two-hour runtime. While Carrey’s narration added some depth and humanity to this narrative,Simon Birchwas a far cry from his more acclaimed dramatic work in the 2000s, such asEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Batman Forever
Cast
After Tim Burton’s plans for a third Batman film fell through, director Joel Schumacher took over the franchise with 1995’s Batman Forever. Replacing Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer stars as Bruce Wayne opposite to Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones, who play The Riddler and Two-Face, respectively. Batman Forever also marks the first time Robin appears on the big screen since Burt Ward reprised his Boy Wonder role in 1966’s Batman: The Movie.
Jim Carrey’s oddball eccentricities felt like the perfect addition to Joel Schumacher’sBatman Forever, which continued Tim Burton’s series and recast Michael Keaton’s Batman with Val Kilmer. As the tone of this franchise continued to become increasingly campy,Carrey’s over-the-top characterization of Edward Nygma fit right in, and he gave himself entirely to the outrageous nature of his character. It was thrilling to watch Carrey play the former Wayne Enterprises employee who, after his invention was personality rejected by Bruce Wayne, transformed into the puzzle-obsessed supervillain.
As a bright, funny, and fast-paced adaptation of the DC hero,Batman Foreverhad far more in common with the 1960s Adam West series than the future dark reimagining of the franchise by Christopher Nolan. While it’s easier to criticizeBatman Foreverfor not standing up against the best cinematic renditions of the Caped Crusader, for the movie he was in, Carrey did a fantastic job. Between Carrey’s characterization of The Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones’ hilarious portrayal of Two-Face,Batman Foreverwas a lot of fun.
9Doing Time On Maple Drive (1992)
Jim Carrey as Tim Carter
As Jim Carrey’s first truly dramatic role, it’s impossible not to compareDoing Time on Maple Driveto later movies likeThe Truman ShoworEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindthat highlighted his talents outside of comedy. While Carrey’s role as Tim Carter doesn’t quite live up to those parts, it was an earlier indication he was interested in broadening his horizons and had more to offer than his over-the-top comedic persona. However, to truly show his skill, Carrey needed better material than this made-for-TV movie about a seemingly perfect family whose dysfunctionality was buried just below the surface.
Carrey gave a straight-laced performance as Tim Carter, an alcoholic college dropout whose drinking was getting out of control and harbored a resentful relationship with his unlikable father. While it’s interesting to see Carrey shed his comic persona and prove his dramatic acting chops, the real focus ofDoing Time on Maple Drivewas Tim’s closeted younger brother Matt (William McNamara), whose secret homosexuality unraveled the family’s hidden dysfunction. Overall,Doing Time on Maple Drivejust felt a little contrived, and the most notable thing about this made-for-TV movie was seeing Carrey’s dramatic debut.
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls is a comedy film starring Jim Carrey as the eccentric pet detective, Ace Ventura. Directed by Steve Oedekerk, the film follows Ace as he is summoned to Africa to solve the mystery of a missing sacred bat. Alongside Carrey, the film features performances by Ian McNeice and Simon Callow. The movie is the sequel to the 1994 hit, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
For the majority of his career, Jim Carrey has avoided sequels, with one notable exception beingAce Ventura: When Nature Calls. As Carrey’s breakout role, it made sense that he returned toAce Ventura, although it quickly became apparent that the joke didn’t work twice and that this series offered diminishing returns. While there were still plenty of hilarious, over-the-top antics, they just didn’t land as hard as in the original, and it was difficult to justify the existence of this lackluster sequel.
Jim Carrey has become more willing to embrace sequels in recent years as he reprised his role as Lloyd Christmas forDumb and Dumber Toin 2014 and has consistently portrayed Dr. Robotnik in theSonicfranchise since 2020.
To make matters worse,Ace Ventura: When Nature Callsmoved the action to Africaas Ace was hired to locate a missing bat. This paper-thin plotline meant that looking back onAce Ventura: When Nature Callsthrough a modern lens, the racial representation was questionable at best.Carrey has explained why he has mostly avoided sequelsin his career by stating that they often felt repetitive and like an imitating the original (viaComic Book), and it’s hard not to think thatAce Ventura: When Nature Callswas a primary influence on him feeling this way.
The Cable Guy
The Cable Guy is a dark comedy film that follows the story of Steven Kovacs, a lonely and socially awkward cable TV installer, played by Jim Carrey, who becomes obsessed with a customer, Chip Douglas, played by Matthew Broderick, and inserts himself into Chip’s life.
Jim Carrey showcased a much darker side to his comedic talents with the black comedyThe Cable Guy. As the story of a regular architect named Steven (Matthew Broderick) whose life was upended after an eccentric cable installer named Chip arrived and gave him free movie channels; however, Chip was under the impression that this friendly favor now made them best friends. Chip’s overbearing, obsessive, and outrageous nature meant he quickly encroached on Steven’s life, alienating him from his friends, leaving countless messages on his answering machine, and acting increasingly clingy and bizarre.
The Cable Guywas the perfect movie for Jim Carrey, as he balanced the darkness of Chip’s character with his uniquely manic comedic skill, making him both entertaining and terrifying. While it may have alienated some viewers at the time of its release as Carrey came across as more scary than his usual goofy nature in the 1990s,The Cable Guyhas since become a true cult classic. WhileThe Cable Guywasn’t Carrey’s greatest movie of the 1990s, it was definitely one of his most interesting that opened the door for him to pursue more serious and complex roles.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Jim Carrey stars in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as the titular character, who investigates the disappearance of the Miami Dolphins' mascot. Courteney Cox, Sean Young, and Tone Loc star in this 1994 comedy, which cemented Carrey as a movie star alongside The Mask and Dumb and Dumber.
With the release ofAce Ventura: Pet Detective, audiences were introduced to the immense talents of Jim Carrey, as he had finally found a role that played into his unique skillset. As an outrageous and over-the-top role that exploited Carrey’s talent for physical humor, exaggerated facial expressions, and energetic slapstick comedy,Ace Venturawas part that brought out the best in him and signaled the dawning of a new voice in comedy. By playing an absurd and surreal animal detective,Carrey blew audiences away as his boundless energy appeared to have no limits.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detectivewas a spoof of detective movies strung together by raunchy humor and gross-out comedy that highlighted Carrey as a love-him-or-hate-him kind of character actor. While the representation of a transgender villain and some homophobic language datedAce Ventura: Pet Detective, this does not overshadow it as adefining film in Jim Carrey’s career, which launched him as a major comedy actor. The role of Ace Ventura was a star-making performance, and it’s no surprise that Carrey continued his hot streak with two more iconic performances in 1994 alone.
Dumb and Dumber
When a woman leaves a briefcase containing ransom money at an airport, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne travel across the country to return it to the woman. Dumb and Dumber stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels and was directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly. The film also received a critically panned prequel in 2003 and a sequel in 2014 called Dumb and Dumber To.
While Jim Carrey’s bombastic style often overshadowed everybody else in his movies, inDumb and Dumberhe proved himself an excellent addition to a comedic duo. With Carrey as Lloyd Christmas and Jeff Daniels as Harry Dunne, this Farrelly Brothers farce starred the pair as two dimwitted best friends embroiled on a cross-country road trip of hilarious misadventure. With incredible chemistry,Carrey and Daniels brought to mind an older age of slapstick comedywhere physical humor had audiences splitting their sides due to the intensity of the hilarious antics on screen.
WhileDumb and Dumberwas silly and stupid, its extreme comedy was so over-the-top that it went full circle to being so ridiculous it actually came across as clever. FromCarrey improvising the most annoying sound in the worldto Daniels getting his tongue stuck on a frozen pole,Dumb and Dumberwas ride-splittingly funny and a film that viewers of all ages could enjoy. With Carrey in top comedic form and Daniels as one of the few actors capable of matching his energy,Dumb and Dumberwas one of the best comedies of the 1990s.
The Mask
Based on the comic series, The Mask is an action-comedy movie that stars Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss, a mild-mannered bank teller with bad luck regarding life and women. However, his fortunes are reversed when he stumbled upon a mythical Mask said to belong to the Norse god of mischief, Loki. When Stanley puts the mask on, he becomes a cartoonish, comedic, and violent troublemaker with powers out of this world.
Jim Carrey always had a cartoonish, comic book-like energy, which is why his starring role inThe Maskwas a truly inspired casting decision. As a film based on the comic book series of the same name,The Maskallowed Carrey to take his outrageous style into extremities never before seen as the down-on-his-luck bank employee Stanley Ipkiss encountered a magical mask that transformed him into the titular green-faced, zoot-suit wearing trickster. Through the use of visuals,The Maskcould bend reality at his will, as his overly animated characterization made for hilarious viewing.
The Maskwas Carrey’s comedy style condensed to its purest form, and it’s hard to imagine this concept working with any other actor, as proven by the lackluster standalone sequelSon of the Mask.Carrey excelled alongside Cameron Diaz as his love interest, Tina Carlyle, whose striking beauty and incredible cinematic charm made her role one of the most memorable film debuts of all time. While Carrey had some more acclaimed films in this decade,The Masktruly encapsulated the hilarious comedian’s appeal during this era and why he became one of the most successful comedy actors of the 1990s.
Liar Liar (1997)
Liar Liarexpanded upon Carrey’s incredible comedic charm with a heartfelt, insightful, and poignant story. Carrey played workaholic divorced lawyer Fletcher Reede, whose career and personal life consistently took precedence over his young child, and after missing his son’s birthday party, his life was upended when the boy’s wish that for one day his dad could never tell a lie came true. This unique concept led to hilarious circumstances as Fletcher was compelled to reveal his hypocrisy by telling the truth no matter how badly it affected his job, personal life, or relationships.
As a truly funny movie,Liar Liarwas also a vulnerable story about a dad who has one last chance to reconnect with his sonbefore ruining their relationship permanently. While Carrey’s physical comedy and skill for slapstick were on full display,Liar Liarnever lost sight of the moral lessons at the center of its story and the importance of putting family before work. As Carrey’s career moved into a more sentimental space in the late 1990s,Liar Liar’smore affecting nature meant it rose above the more outrageous entries in his career’s filmography, likeAce VenturaandThe Mask.
The life and career of legendary comedian Andy Kaufman.
While Jim Carrey gained worldwide recognition for playing outrageous and unrealistic comedy characters, it was a testament to Andy Kaufman’s uniqueness that one of his strange roles was actually based on a real person. Kaufman was one of the forebearers of Carrey’s distinctive style, and he played the often-dubbed ‘anti-comedian’ in the unusual biopicMan on the Moon. to perfection. This marked Carrey’s first fact-based movie, and he committed entirely to the role, utilized a method acting style, and stayed in character for extended periods, as seen inthe behind-the-scenes documentaryJim & Andy: The Great Beyond.
Carrey embodied Kaufman, as well as his other comedy characters, Tony Clifton and Latka Gravas, in a highly effective biopic that flopped at the box office. While this was one of the few financial failings of Carrey during the 1990s,Man on the Moonwas an artistic success as he mimicked Kafuman’s mannerisms to a tee as the idiosyncratic appeal of theSaturday Night LiveandTaxistar. Playing Kaufman effectively was no mean feat, and Carrey was one of the few performers in the 1990s who had the skillset to pull it off.
