Good
The Mask

Dumb & Dumber

Decent
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Aw, geez, he's trying to act serious again

The Majestic

The Truman Show

Have Not Seen
Liar, Liar

Batman Forever

The Cable Guy

Simon Birch (small role)

Man on the Moon

Me, Myself, & Irene

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Jim Carey was a goalie in the NHL. He played for the Capitols, where he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best netminder, and then tanked after being traded to my Bruins. One year he was the best, next year he was the worst.

Jim Carrey is the Jim Carey of acting, in a way. Not in the sense of having his career tank, but because he can be great in one movie and terrible in the next. I'm sure it's just coincidence that his awful movies are serious ones and his good ones are comedies. Or, to be more accurate, his serious ones are all awful and his comedies are generally good.

The Mask
My introduction to Jim Carrey -- and Cameron Diaz, back when she was hot. Highly Recommended This is still the best Carrey movie I've seen. It's a good date movie, it's a good family movie, it's funny, entertaining, has a good plot -- and I'm kind of surprised they haven't made a sequel.

The Majestic
Shoot me now and spare me the bullets. I had to watch this on a bus ride from Boston to Portland and I kept waiting for it to get better. It never did. Horrible It's supposed to be a serious, sentimental movie about an amnesiac who renovates an old movie theatre. Carrey is awful, but maybe he can't help it. He has a funny face, and it's not conducive to someone struggling to find their place and regain their past. This movie fails miserably -- it isn't even touching and sentimental because it doesn't do enough to make a connection with the audience. The Majestic is the biggest reason I have a Jim Carrey page, to warn folks to stay away.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Vintage Carrey, his first and maybe his most famous solo role. Recommended (This is a litmus test movie: if you like it, you'll like most or all of Carrey's comedies. If you don't, you generally won't, except maybe for something more mainstream like The Mask. Some people love him, some hate him, and you'll find out quick if you haven't already.) The movie itself is well done, crazy & funny, with wild hair. And it has Courteney Cox, Tone Loc (why not?), and Dan Marino playing himself (brilliantly). Plot: someone has stolen the Miami Dolphin and Ace is hired to retrieve it.

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Recommended See above, except set in Africa instead of Miami and without Cox, Tone Loc, and Marino.

The Truman Show
Wake me when it's over. Thankfully it's only an hour and 43 minutes, but it seems like forever. Boring The film is pointless unless you're one of those folks who likes to think deep thoughts about "reality" and "art imitating life", and oh isn't it so fascinating? No, it's dumb, it's not funny, it has very little in the way of worthwhile points that could have been made about human dignity, freedom, etc. Another attempt at cinematic greatness ends up as a monument to mediocrity.

Dumb & Dumber
Jim Carrey (Lloyd Christmas) road-tripping with Jeff Daniels (Harry Dunne), also featuring Lauren Holly and former Bruins star Cam Neely. Classic: Recommended This is a classic -- a certain type of classic, but a classic nonetheless. It really is a dumb movie. But it's really good dumb -- if you like that sort of thing.