Top 10 Jim Carrey Performances

Carrey's newest venture, A Christmas Carol, made with mo-cap connoisseur, Robert Zemeckis, is topping the box office. In it, Jim tackles 4 characters, Scrooge (at each age he appears) and each of the three ghosts. Now, it seems strange to hide his infamous elastic face behind 3-dimensional computer graphics, but everyone knows that there is a lot more to a single performance than that. Jim gets to show off his body language and voice inflection that are equally as good as his crazy face. In honor of Carrey's multiple performance new flick, I have comiled a list of his best performances yet.

10. Ace Ventura (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective)

Pretty much Carrey's first lead role, he plays a crazy but charming pet detective, a man who dedicated his life to helping people get their pets back. It is one of Carrey's more animated performances for sure.

9. The Cable Guy (The Cable Guy)

An enigmatic, clingy cable guy makes a new friend out of a recent client. He ends up driving his newfound pal crazy and then tries to ruin his life for not being his best friend. It is a seriously demented, but hysterical role. I don't think any of his roles balanced those two characteristics as well as this one.

8. Bruce Nolan (Bruce Almighty)

Bruce Nolan, aka Bruce Almighty, is a struggling news anchor, a modern average joe attempting greatness (in his own way), who is endowed with God's powers after smiting the Lord for not being fair to him. Just like the Cable Guy, this high-concept comedy has Carey balancing outright comedy with a little bit of dramatic acting near the end. The little seed of seriousness that made so many of my favorite comedies great is really well used here.

7. Fletcher Reede (Liar, Liar)

As Reede, Carrey played a lying lawyer who after too many times dissapointing his son loses his ability to lie from a birthday wish. If theres anything better than watching Carrey let loose, it is seeing Carrey let loose but attempting to hold back at the same time. Many times over the course of this movie, I definitely expected Carrey's beat red face to pop off his body.

6. Count Olaf (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Carrey brings to life a beloved literary villain. A lot like A Christmas Carol, Carrey gets to play multiple roles, expect this time they are alias' of the same man, a greedy relative knocking off other next of kin in order to get custody of some children and their late parent's fortune. One of the more charismatic rogues out there, Carrey's skills are put to the ultimate test letting a few wigs and prothetics become unrecognizable characters.

5. Andy Kaufman (Man on the Moon)

If there was any real person that Jim Carrey should play, with all his dramatic ability, schizophrenic comedic timing, and eleastic-faced presence, it is the ultimate alternative comic, Andy Kaufman. While The Truman Show is the first of his movies that wowed me as an actor, this was what wowed most people I think.

4. Truman Burbank (The Truman Show)

As Truman, Carrey plays a clueless member of a near-utopian society. A gated community somethere in the northeast (i think). What he really is in is a large soundstage in Hollywood where Truman is watched by cameras every waking minute and surrounded by actors posing as his friends and family. A truly nuanced performance by Carrey.

3. Charlie/Hank (Me, Myself, and Irene)

Another movie that puts Carrey's schizophrenic screen presence to good use, this time as two personalities in the same body fighting for control. Carrey effortlessly changes back and forth at the most inoppurtune times.

2. Lloyd Christmas (Dumb and Dumber)

As one of the two dumbest people on Earth, Jim Carrey definitely delivers his most memorable role. Not my persoanl favorite, and not his most successful as far as quality but definitely the funniest. He even took out his own chipped tooth from his childhood. Random, stupid observations have not been delivered with this kind of comedic timing since the Marx brothers.

1. Joel Barish (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is easily Carrey's greatest performance ever. Its more dramatic than Kaufman and more naunced than Truman. It lacks the comedic flare that most of his career would imply, but Carrey surprisingly holds his own against the very talented Tom Wilkinson, Mark Ruffalo, and most talented of all Kate Winslet. This is definitely a movie to see.