The Mask

1994 comedy

Rating: 10/20

Plot: A shy loser finds a magical mask that transforms him into a charismatic zoot-suit-wearing ladies' man. But is he in over his head?

When this came out, a friend of mine named Jason and I couldn't stop laughing at the previews. We were seeing something else in a theater, and when the preview for this came on, we had mini religious experiences right there in our seats. I think I probably even peed. When I eventually saw this for the first time, there was no way I couldn't be disappointed.

So why am I seeing it again? I have no idea. I was working on a "Best of 1994" list, saw that '94 was the year Jim Carrey emerged onto the scene like a chimpanzee popping out of an elephant's rectum, and figured that I'd give it another chance. My tastes in entertainment have actually become a little dumber since I was in my early-20s, but I also suspected that I'd missed some nuances that made me severely underrate this.

As I probably was the first time I saw this, I was annoyed with how mean-spirited and misogynistic this is. It starts a little ugly, gets much uglier, and then somehow manages to get even uglier than that while at the same time reminding me of the live-action Scooby-Doo movie. Reminding a person of any live-action Scooby-Doo movie should actually be a crime.

There are actually elements of this that I like. The very first shot of Edge City creates this comic book dystopia, but the promise of anything interesting there is never fulfilled. The scenes after Carrey puts on the mask are like Looney Tunes cartoons come to life, and there's very creative animation and sight gags. I liked a couple extended song and dance numbers, one with the fetching Cameron Diaz after Carrey announces that they're going to rock this joint and another with a Cuban Pete character.

Carrey really did have some year in 1994. This, Pet Detective, and Dumb and Dumber? That's two in the top-ten highest grossing movies as well as the 16th. Not bad for a guy who makes funny faces. When Carrey's called on to act like a normal person in this, he just can't do it. The dog is more of a natural actor than he is. However, he's really good at being a cartoon, and he's in his element when he's got that mask on. A lot of his performance is special effects and stunt/dance double work, but he still gets enough to do in that mask to show that he knows how to move comically. The 4th-Wall busting and one-liners mostly don't work, but some of the visual humor does and it all holds up surprisingly well about a quarter of a century later.

The most magical moment in this doesn't involve special effects at all. It's a scene where Carrey tries to show off the mask's powers for Ben Stein. That one even got a chuckle out of me.

I didn't need to watch this before putting together my Best of 1994 list.