BEFORE: Tonight Jim Carrey has some form of mental illness where he can't lie. Well, maybe this doesn't count as a mental defect, but work with me here, OK?
THE PLOT: A fast track lawyer can't lie for 24 hours due to his son's birthday wish.
AFTER: Yeah, I'm going to allow this one here, because Carrey essentially acts like a mental patient in the courtroom. This was made back at the time where Carrey making some silly faces and falling down a lot would sell a film - so we see him getting more and more frustrated as his inability to lie affects his office relationships, and his ability to defend his client.
He even resorts to beating himself up to try and get a one-day recess in court - which he also did in "Me, Myself & Irene", but for different reasons - but nothing works, and he ends up sabotaging his own case. Objecting to his own motions - it's an absolutely insane legal strategy. Only in a movie can this happen, and only in a movie could he (eventually) find a way to turn it around to his advantage.
It's a simple premise, and I think it could have been more fully explored - once again, someone aimed for the lowest common denominator, so we get Carrey's character, Fletcher Reede, commenting on women's breasts and admitting to farting in an elevator. Which is interesting symbolism, since Carrey's overacting is about as subtle as a fart in an elevator.
The idea is that Fletcher is a "bad dad" - apparently because he couldn't stay faithful to his wife, he's chosen work over his kid, and on top of that, he lies to his kid when he's late, and about how much time they're going to spend together. His ex-wife's boyfriend talks down to the kid, which is almost worse, and is not much better than lying. You see a lot of adults who don't know how to talk to kids - I've always found it better and easier to just treat them like tiny adults, but what do I know? I don't have kids, so I don't know how to deal with them long-term either.
I could go in a couple different directions here - I just got more courtroom dramas like "A Time to Kill" and "The Chamber", or I could even do a whole chain on lies and deception, since I just got copies of "The Invention of Lying", "The Great Buck Howard", and "Color Me Kubrick". But I think I'll close out Jim Carrey films tomorrow, then finish up films about crazy people, then transition into my chain for Labor Day.
Yes, I've blocked out a rough plan for films through the end of December - though there is some flexibility, I like to have an advance road map in place. The general plan for September will be films about corporate America and labor workers, which will lead into Jack Nicholson movies, which will lead into October's horror chain (werewolves, vampires, demon children, Stephen King) which will lead into films about writers, then spies, then war/soldiers, a couple of leftover football films, then Christmas films, and finally a look at modern religion. Then I'll regroup for 2011.
Also starring Maura Tierney (last seen in "Semi-Pro"), Cary Elwes (last seen in "Twister"), Jennifer Tilly, Amanda Donohoe, Swoosie Kurtz (last heard in "Superman/Doomsday"), with character actor Jason Bernard, and cameos from Mitch Ryan (last seen in "Magnum Force"), Randall "Tex" Cobb, Cheri Oteri and O.J. Simpson trial prosecuting attorney Christopher Darden.
RATING: 4 out of 10 baseball gloves
Probably the perfect Jim Carrey movie. There's obviously a fantastic element to the story, which means that he can play his character broadly without making him look like a mental case. Homer Simpson doesn't look out of place on "The Simpsons" but he'd be a freak if he walked into "Avatar." That's what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteThe plot requires him to play his character straight and then go a little nutty in response to what's happening to him. Too many of Carrey's films require him to suppress either his talent for acting or his talent for comedy.
And when we get to the end of the story, we feel like his character's been through something worthwhile. We're glad things worked out...which means that we were invested in the story.
(As opposed to spending 90 minutes thinking "Oh, Jim. I raise my glass to you. You are truly America's Clown Prince. What clever things will your buttcheeks be saying in this scene?)