Jim Carrey has been one of the funniest actors in Hollywood since his breakout on the television sketch comedy show In Living Color. Thanks to that series and skits like the popular Fire Marshall Bill, he got a chance to star in some big-budget comedy movies, and by the time the 1990s ended, he was the highest-grossing and highest-paid comedy actor working in film. He had monster hits like Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, and Dumb and Dumber, and more minor, niche releases like The Mask and The Cable Guy. Through it all, Carrey proved to be a perfect physical comedy actor, and while his career has slowed down over the last two decades, he remains one of the best in the business.
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From his movie breakout role to one of his most recent blockbuster roles, here is a look at Jim Carrey’s five funniest characters in movies.
5) Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik
Jim Carrey might not be a major box office draw like he was in the 1990s, but he is still one of the best comedic actors when he chooses to appear in a movie. This is proven in roles like his villainous comedic turn as Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog movies. He has perfect timing as the clueless and evil villain, and he even got a bigger role in the third film.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Carrey had the chance to play both Eggman and his own grandfather, often playing against himself in the same scenes. It offered Carrey a chance to really explore his physical comedy by playing two very different characters interacting with each other, and he stole the movie every time he appeared on the screen.
4) The Grinch
In 2000, Jim Carrey took on one of his most iconic roles when he starred in the Ron Howard remake of the Dr. Seuss classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The movie took the Seuss story and the animated short film from 1966 and turned it into a feature-length movie about the Grinch seeking revenge against the people of Whoville, who bullied and ostracized him when he was a child.
Carrey was under a lot of prosthetics in the film, but he still delivered a brilliant physical performance while somehow delivering some of his classic, brilliant facial reactions that he has become known for. This was also, in many ways, better than the animated classic, as it fleshed out why the Grinch turned out the way he did. That all worked thanks to Carrey’s performance, without ever limiting his crazed, physical comedy.
3) Stanley Ipkiss
In between all of Jim Carrey’s over-the-top slapstick comedies in the 1990s, he also took some roles in some darker comedy movies. The two absolute best of these roles came in The Cable Guy and The Mask. Honestly, The Cable Guy was the better of the two movies, and it is much better than its box office failure would indicate. However, Carry wasn’t funny in that movie. He was dark and disturbing.
That said, his role in The Mask allowed him to be funny while also taking on a darker tone, as when he was possessed by the mask he wore, Stanley Ipcuss was able to deliver some biting humor and implement the slapstick body comedy that Carrey specialized in during that era. There was a sequel to the film, based on the comic book series of the same name, that proved that without Carrey, The Mask just wouldn’t work.
2) Lloyd Christmas
Two comedy movies define Jim Carrey from the 1990s, and Dumb and Dumber might be the best of the two when it comes to fans. In this movie, he stars as Lloyd Christmas, who is best friends with Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels). They are two extremely dumb and utterly clueless friends who live in Rhode Island and set off for Colorado to return a briefcase full of money to its owner. Sadly, it was ransom money, and they don’t know any better.
The thing that sells this Farrelly brothers movie is that Carey and Daniels were perfect in their roles as extremely dumb individuals, and everything goes over their heads. Carrey isn’t asked to partake in the physical comedy of other roles he took on, and is just asked to deliver the cringiest dialogue with as much earnestness as possible, and he is masterful. It might be Carey’s best performance in a comedy movie in his career.
1) Ace Ventura
While Dumb and Dumber had Jim Carrey’s best performance in his comedy movies of the 90s, it was his role in Ace Ventura that allowed him to show why he was this era’s Buster Keaton, the best physical comedy actor of his generation. Ace was a pet detective who investigated cases involving animals, while he was also a massive animal lover himself.
Ace Ventura is a dated movie in some ways, and much of the humor wouldn’t fly today. However, when it comes to his character, Jim Carrey has never been funnier. This movie allowed him to use his slapstick physical humor to its fullest effect while stretching his face into reaction shots that no other actor could dream of doing. His comic timing was perfect, and this was the film that proved Jim Carrey was a star on the rise.
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