Cinema Sunday: The Mask

November Nineties continues here on ye olde blog thing as Cinema Sunday turns it's attention to a movie from 1994.  

It's a super hero comedy movie starring Jim Carrey called The Mask. 

The 1990's seem to be good time for former TV actors to find big time fame as motion picture stars. 

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Titanic and Leonardo Di Caprio got his first break as part of the supporting cast of Growing Pains. 

Last week's Men In Black gave us Will Smith who paid his acting dues on TV's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 

And now we have Jim Carrey who got his start on the Fox comedy variety series In Living Color.  As SNL would have one cast member who was "the black guy", the mostly African American In Living Color had Jim Carrey as "the white guy". Carrey's break out character from that series was Fire Marshall Bill, a strange hairless hyper active dude with an unhinged jaw who was maniacal on the subject of fire safety.  

1994 was a break out year for Jim Carrey who made the leap from TV to the silver screen with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber and The Mask.   

Of those three, The Mask seemed to be the best as capturing Jim Carrey's Fire Marshall Bill manic energy and also showing Carrey was capable of nuance as an actor.   

Carrey as bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is reserved, insecure. There are hints of energy underneath the service as he blunders through his interaction with beautiful singer Tina Carlyle and barely represses his rage towards the mechanics who are ripping him off and his annoyingly pedantic landlady. Carrey's only respite are his beloved classic cartoons, especially the old Rex Avery cartoons from Warner Brothers.  

Then Ipkiss finds a strange green wooden mask that changes him into a green-faced, zoot-suited trickster known as "the Mask", who can animate and alter himself and his surroundings at will. His powers are limited only by his imagination and Ipkiss has a lot of imagination powered by his love of old cartoons. 

It's as "The Mask" that Jim Carrey cuts completely loose with all the chaotic, hyperactive energy at his command. There are no limits on what "the Mask" can do and Carrey keeps pace with that. 

But it's as Stanley Ipkiss that Carrey shows he can be more than the maniac with a sweet and nuanced performance.  

The Mask is also the film debut of Cameron Diaz whose turn as Tina Carlyle  ranges from sweetly tender to just oozing with sensuality.  

The true scene stealer in this movie is Stanley's dog, Milo. He's 100% pure bred good boy!  

Let me also say a word for the look of this movie. Edge City is not a nice place to live with an oppressive aesthetic. The Mask doesn't just save Stanley from his dull existence, he saves the city itself from it's cold and depressing state.  

Next week's Cinema Sunday continues with November Nineties as we take a look at another hit film starring Jim Carrey as he makes a significant change in his career trajectory.