Throwback Thursday: Dumb and Dumber (1994)

We all enjoy a good laugh. It is the best feeling in the world, especially after a long and difficult day. But the thing about comedy is that it can also be subjective. What is funny to one person falls flat for another.

The 1994 Dumb and Dumber is one of the classics of the 1990’s, Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels) are the best of friends. They also not the brightest bulbs in the box. When Mary (Lauren Holly, Carrey’s IRL ex) one of Lloyd’s clients leaves a briefcase in the limo he drives for a living, he and Harry go on a cross country journey to return it to her.

Sometimes, you just want to laugh. You don’t want to really think about it. Dumb and Dumber is one of those films. Even re-watching the trailer, I could feel my stress and my anxiety leaving my body, if only for a few minutes.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

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Throwback Thursday- Man On The Moon (1999)

Hollywood is full of personalities. But there are only a few who are brave enough to take a character and let him or her take over their identity.

Legendary and quirky comedian Andy Kaufman passed away in 1984, but his talent, his imagination and his commitment to his work lives on.

In 1999, the movie Man On The Moon dramatized the life and career of the legendary comedian. Starring Jim Carrey in the lead role, the film follows Andy as he attempts to build a career in Hollywood while trying out his own unique brand of comedy.

In a surprising twist, Jim Carrey is quite good as Andy Kaufman.  While Carrey is known for his comedy films, most of his attempts to break into serious drama have not ended well. But Jim Carrey is known for his oddball comedy and his ability to completely disappear into a character, so the casting made sense.

Do I recommend it? I would say yes. And if your curious to compare on the screen Andy Kaufman to the real Andy Kaufman, the videos are below.

Throwback Thursday-The Mask (1994)

Masks are simple, but deceptive items. Masks represent who we want the world to see, not the person inside of us.

In the 1994 film The Mask, Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) is a nice guy. He is so nice that he lets everyone walk all over him.  On what he thinks is the lowest day of his life, Stanley finds a mask that according to legend, originated from the Norse trickster g-d Loki. The mask turns Stanley into the man he wants to be: slightly cartoonish, but wildly romantic. The mask attracts the attention of Lt Mitch Kellaway (Peter Riegert) and mobster Dorian Tyrel (Peter Greene), both are who extremely eager to unmask The Mask.

There is something that is almost philosophical about this movie. Stanley is an every man. We all wish sometimes that we could be the person who is inside of us, instead of conforming to the world just to survive.

I recommend it.

Flashback Friday- Liar Liar (1997)

Lying, as our parents reminded us when we were children, was not a wise choice.

What happens when the ones we love the most make a wish so we cannot lie?

That the premise of the Jim Carrey 1997 movie Liar Liar. Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) is a lawyer with a penchant for fudging the truth. While lying has helped his career grow, it killed his marriage to Audrey (Maura Tierney).  Audrey is so fed up with Fletcher that she is on the verge of taking their son Max (Justin Cooper) and moving out town with her boyfriend, Jerry (Cary Elwes). When Fletcher misses his son’s birthday, Max makes a wish that his father cannot lie for 24 hours. With an important case in his hands and his career on the line, Fletcher must find a way to salvage his relationship with his son while winning his case. All this must be done without lying.

This movie was an interesting one for Jim Carrey. While he still partially relied on the same zany acting that made him a star, this movie is a transition to the more serious acting that he would attempt in the next few years.

I recommend it.

Throwback Thursday-Jim Carrey Attempts To Be A Serious Actor-The Truman Show (1998) & The Majestic (2001)

Jim Carrey is known for a certain style of acting. That type of acting is not known to be serious or dramatic. That does not mean he has tried.

In 1998, he starred in The Truman Show. Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) thinks that he lives an average life. He is married to Meryl (Laura Linney) and has a successful career in the insurance industry. But what he doesn’t know is that he is the subject of a decades long reality show where everyone else around him are paid actors. When does find out, he does everything in his power to escape the facade that is his life.

I genuinely like this movie. Carrey as Truman is a very honest, believable character.  The movie also is an interesting statement on what was then the burgeoning reality TV genre.

Two years later, he tried an aww shucks, Jimmy Stewart type of role in The Majestic. Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is writer blacklisted in Hollywood in 1951. He looses his memory in a car accident and ends up in a small town where the denizens that he is believed to be a member of the community that was thought to be missing or dead.

This movie is a throwback to classic Hollywood. It’s simple and sweet, but slightly on the boring side.

If I was to recommend one, I would recommend The Truman Show.

The Critics Were Wrong (Maybe)- Batman & Robin (1997)

In every movie franchise, for every individual movie that succeeds, there is one that bombs horribly. In the Batman movie franchise, for every Batman Begins (2005) or Batman Forever (1995), there is a Batman & Robin (1997).

Gotham City is under a two pronged attack. Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and Dr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) are looking to control the city. Poison Ivy uses her feminine charms and poisons while Dr. Freeze just wants to see the city frozen over. Our heroes, who were able to successfully defeat Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and the Riddler (Jim Carrey) in Batman Forever, find that their relationship is at a crossroads. Can Batman (George Clooney), Robin (Chris O’Donnell) and Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) defeat the villains and return Gotham City to peace and security?

Were the critics wrong? No.

I will give the production team points for trying. Sometimes when a franchise becomes too serious, a little lightening up is required. But this movie goes too far in trying to put the humor back into the story. It was just a little too over the top for me.

Do I recommend this movie? No.