1. The Number 23 (2007)
Jim Carrey, for the most part, creates either good or extremely poor movies. The Majestic, humorous misfires like The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and dismal genre misfires like Dark Crimes are among the latter. However, it also contains The Number 23, a thriller in which Carrey becomes fascinated with a book on the number 23 that he forgot he authored. A guy by the name of Topsy Kretts penned the novel. Declare it aloud. That’s right: it has the same ring to it as “Top Secrets.” The Number 23 is a poor film, but you can enjoy it if inebriated.
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Have you ever wondered why there aren’t any more live-action Dr. Seuss adaptations? It’s mostly because the Seuss estate detested Mike Myers’ The Cat in the Hat to the point of banning it. However, Carrey’s strange horniness in How the Grinch Stole Christmas might possibly be to blame. We learn that the Grinch’s parents were swingers, see the Grinch nude, and realise that Christine Baranski really, really wants to have sex with the Grinch throughout the course of the film. The excellent doctor would be horrified.
3. Lemony Snicker’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Carrey’s adaption of Daniel Handler’s children’s books was somewhat better. Carrey is as as encased in prosthetics as the wicked Count Olaf as he was in The Grinch, but the subject matter is more appropriate for his sensibilities. It’s dark and scary at times, and Carrey’s ad-libs aren’t nearly as obvious. This would be considerably higher on the list if it weren’t for the succeeding Netflix series, which was detailed enough to expose the film’s flaws.
4. Yes Man (2008)
Carrey’s schtick was starting to grow thin by 2008. Yes Man would very certainly have been one of his finest films if it had been released a decade sooner. Carrey’s portrayal, on the other hand, has a tangible fatigue to it, as if he’s attempting to conjure a madness that just doesn’t exist any longer. When you add in the nearly 20-year age gap between him and Zooey Deschanel’s love interest, you have a bizarre curate’s egg of a film.
5. Mr Popper’s Penguins (2011)
It’s possible to argue that this is Carrey’s only truly hidden treasure. The film is actually a lovely meditation on parental disappointment that was killed by its own marketing technique – the trailer, which featured Carrey hoofing around with some CGI penguins, made it appear aggressively silly. It’s not quite a classic, but it’s far more intellectual than anyone at the time gave it credit for.
6. The Mask (1994)
The effect of Carrey’s breakout year – in which he also produced Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber – was so massive that it’s easy to overlook The Mask’s sloppy and formless nature. Despite the fact that Carrey gives it his all (director Chuck Russell claims his rubbery face was worth a million dollars in special effects), the film is essentially a loose collection of catchphrases in the place of a plot.
7. Batman Forever (1995)
Carrey’s Riddler is the one redeemable element of this garish failure – his madness is driven by a palpable feeling of betrayal – and it’s possible that this is why he’s feuding with his co-stars. Tommy Lee Jones, in particular, was so disturbed by Carrey’s continuous scene-stealing that he could only conjure the iconic statement “I cannot approve your buffoonery” as a welcome when he bumped into him at a restaurant during production.
8. Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
Carrey plays a guy with numerous personalities in this film. The one is a decent person who has reached the end of his tether due to his wife’s insistence in cheating on him with a black dwarf, while the other is Clint Eastwood. This may sound strange to say about a Carrey picture, but Me, Myself, and Irene is simply too wide. It came at a time when the Farrelly brothers were running out of gross-out targets, and Carrey had to compensate by going overboard.
9. I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Steven Jay Russell, played by Carrey, is a real-life conman who falls in love with his cellmate. The film had a rough distribution due to its graphic LGBT themes, which reportedly turned off distributors and moviegoers, but it is definitely worth a second viewing. It’s lovely, humorous, and tragic at times, and Carrey strikes the perfect blend of comedy and sorrow.
10. Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
The film in which Jim Carrey was reintroduced to the world. Sonic the Hedgehog had been lost in a fog for years, focused on art and poor drama, as well as his increasingly unappealing public persona, until everything came back together for him. Dr Robotnik swings for the fences in the same manner that Carrey did in the classic era, loud, overt, and monomaniacal, with a dancing interlude that would be entirely unnecessary if it weren’t the greatest part of the movie. It’ll never be regarded one of the greats since it’s still a Sonic the Hedgehog film, but seeing Carrey screw around is like witnessing a guy fall in love with his skill all over again. A sequel is already in the works.
