Comedy is subjective and everyone has a different opinion on which type of comedy they enjoy. The same can be said for comedian actors as there have been many that have made us laugh hard and sometimes almost kill ourselves from laughing so hard. One of these actors that I want to cover a Top 10 list on is Jim Carrey. For those who have lived under a rock and never seen any of his performances, Jim Carrey is a Canadian-American comedian/actor that is one of the highest grossing actors of all time. While his career started out in small films and comedy shows, it wasn’t until he was a part of In Living Color where Jim Carrey’s career would take off and once 1994 came Jim Carrey became the biggest comedian on the planet. Jim Carrey happens to be one of my favorite comedian actors of all time and while I idolized Robin Williams my whole life, Jim Carrey’s films and comedy has been a big part of my life growing up and even today. Jim Carrey is one of those comedians I have idolized and I thought why not honor the man. So for this week’s Top 10 list I wanted to cover Jim Carrey’s Best Performances of all time. Now for this list I will be mainly be talking about his movie performances. Also this list will mainly be for his performances and not the films themselves as I feel like they could be ranked in a different way and I promise we will get that list when the time comes. Comment below your favorite Jim Carrey performance of all time and strap in cause we are going to be on this journey for a while. ALLLLLL RIGHTTY THEN I think we have waited long enough, let’s countdown the Top 10 Jim Carrey Performances of All Time.
Top 10 Jim Carrey Performances of All Time
10. Dr. Robtonik (Sonic The Hedgehog) – If you were going to tell me in 2019 that Sonic the Hedgehog was going to be one of the most popular and successful films of 2020 then I would of laughed and well I be damned I guess it is and a big thanks to that, other than Sonic of course, is Jim Carrey’s performance as Dr. Robotnik. The film is based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video games and Dr.Robotnik in the video games is a mad scientist and just like the video game he is a mad scientist in the film who is after Sonic’s super-speed power so he can take over the world. Now while this performance is fresh and new to the public eye, it was the fact that it helped bring back Jim Carrey into the spotlight. While Showtime’s Kidding helped bring the talented actor back into the spotlight, it was this performance that not only brought us back to the classic 90’s Jim Carrey but he gained many positive reviews of the character and it helped launch him back to the public eye. While the character in the video games is an evil genius who has a sensation for robots and machines, Carrey used those characteristics and added in his charm into the character and made the character more than just a mad scientist. He made the character his own and used his Carrey comedy that we know him as in the role and if I could be really honest with you, his performance stands out from the rest of the cast. He alone makes this movie fun and while there are moments and scenes that he is not on screen that make the film fun and great, it was Jim Carrey that help launch the film’s popularity and without this role and film Jim Carrey wouldn’t have been able to be back in the spotlight and show that he can still be the goofy actor that everyone knew him as back in the 90’s. Who would have thought that the saving grace of this film wasn’t the additional few months of editing Sonic’s CGI look but Jim Carrey as Dr.Robtonik. Like I said it might be his newest performance but it helped to bring him back to the spotlight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8lnP8p6oU
9. Charlie Baileygates/Hank Evans (Me, Myself & Irene) – To play one character is simple, but what happens when you are playing two characters but it’s two in one. In Me, Myself & Irene Jim Carrey plays Charlie Baileygates, a Rhode Island state trooper who develops a split personality and gives birth to a new identity named Hank Evans. So for this performance Jim is technically playing two roles even though it’s for one performance. Charlie is this sweet guy that has been taken advantage of by the people of his town but yet he continues to be a nice guy that is until Hank comes into the picture. Hank only comes out when Charlie is under lots of stress but when he does he becomes this very rude and violent person that can be over the top. Now I believe Jim Carrey based the way Hank Evans talks and his mannerisms from Clint Eastwood as Carrey impersonates the iconic actor very well so it wouldn’t be a shock if Carrey is in fact basing Hank from Clint Eastwood. Now while the film as a whole isn’t the greatest film of all time, it does have some laugh out loud moments and Jim Carrey’s performance makes the film watchable and memorable. His comedic skills play well with this role and the fact that he had to pretty much act like a nice guy and an asshole in one role makes this performance stand out from the bunch of great Jim Carrey roles. The scenes where Charlie becomes Hank is pure comedy and the dialogue that Hank uses in this film is by far some of the best uses of dark comedy. This role and film is pretty underrated if you ask me but by far the performance from Jim Carrey really hit the spot hard for this film and help it in a very good way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyaIF1iTs-Y
8. The Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas) – While the film received mixed reviews from critics many people can say that this performance is one of Jim Carrey’s best. Jim Carrey as The Grinch might be one of the greatest decisions in film history. Okay I don’t want to get too ahead of myself but this was a pretty smart decision in general. Now Jim Carrey didn’t play The Grinch, he became The Grinch. There is many stories on how Jim Carrey put on his character and became The Grinch and while I feel like it is just theories I don’t know because when you watch this film you know Jim Carrey is under make up and is in costume as the character but at the same time he isn’t and he becomes the role and in a weird way brings The Grinch to life right in front of our eyes. The original Christmas cartoon classic showed Grinch as this grumpy green creature who hated The Who’s and hated Christmas and this movie adds more into the character by adding in Jim Carrey’s charm but also a back story and Carrey makes him goofy but at the same time scary because he’s The Grinch. As a kid I remember watching this film every Christmas, every year for that matter and it’s still like that today. It’s a holiday tradition to be honest but without a doubt the performance of Jim Carrey makes this film so loveable. Yes the film has its flaws but Jim Carrey knocks it out the park and carries the film on his back. While it isn’t his biggest performances to date it is however one of his most well known performances and without Carrey in the role I feel like the film wouldn’t be as charming and witty as it was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8m6M4RV8p0
7. Count Olaf (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) – This performance was known as the last great performance for Jim Carrey. Since A Series of Unfortunate Events Jim Carrey’s star kind of fell as he was a part of some under the radar films and box office flops. However many people consider this performance as Count Olaf as his last great performance as a top comedian actor. In the film Carrey plays Count Olaf, a stage actor who is a master of disguise who wants the Baudelaire children’s fortune. In the book series, Olaf is evil and finds a way to always try and ruin the three Baudelaire’s lives but for this film Jim Carrey took a different approach and made the character evil but in a PG, goofy way. He made the character have some new characteristics and in Jim Carrey fashion he made his version of the character memorable as while the film itself is a classic for many kids back in that time, it has been forgotten about over the years. While the book series was brought back into the entertainment world with a Netflix series of the same name, Neil Patrick Harris had a decent role as the Count but unfortunately Jim Carrey’s performance shadows NPH’s performance. There something about Jim Carrey’s Count Olaf that is memorable and enjoyable as the film itself can be dark and dull but Jim adds a charm to the film that you really can’t undo. This isn’t one of Jim’s most loveable characters but the performance is by one of his best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ErlhM1NaZA
6. The Mask/Stanley Ipkus (The Mask) – 1994 was the year that solidified Jim Carrey’s career as three hit films brought his name into stardom, two are still coming up, but for now let’s talk about the SMOKIN lit character of The Mask/ Stanley Ipkuss. Stanley Ipkuss is a nice guy who works as a bank clerk in Edge City bank and is characterized as a guy who is just trying to get by life. His character is kind of a normal dull character, something you never think Jim Carrey would play. Well that is until he finds the mask. Once Stanley puts this mask on he transforms into The Mask and we are then introduced to this cartoony, off the walls, suave superhuman who can manipulate his own shape and the world around him. This character is a perfect example of how great of an actor Jim Carrey can be but also how great of a comedian he can be. Jim Carrey fits this role perfectly as there is no other actor or comedian that is as goofy and zany as Jim Carrey and this was one of the three roles in 1994 that changed his career forever. The amount of names that were considered for this role was shocking as none of them could reach what Carrey reached for this performance. Names like Robin Williams, Mike Myers, Steve Martin, Matthew Broderick and Keanu Reeves were all considered for this role and had one of them been casted for this role then the performance itself would be so different. Jim Carrey made this performance his own, made it both memorable and loveable and it is one of those roles that was perfect casting on the nose. Carrey’s performance was so great that he was even nominated for a Golden Globe. Hell you know the performance is iconic when you also get nominated for a Razzie for Worst New Star because of this one film. Jim Carrey made this performance one of his outlandish performances and it was in his early glory years of the 90’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZi3PhRQw00
5. Joel Barish (Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless Mind) – Not every performance on this list will be of comedy as Jim Carrey can also do some dramatic roles and this one is one of his most dramatic performances of all time. The film is a scientific romance drama where a couple erases their memory of each other from their minds. After Joel Barish’s relationship ends with his girlfriend Clementine, Clementine erases Joel from her memory and in response he decides to erase her form his memory. This wasn’t one of those characters Jim usually plays as Jim usually plays off the wall characters or characters that are comedic. While we have seen Jim play characters in comedy films that are a bit more on the dramatic side this role was full dramatic. The performance felt very real too as Jim Carrey put on an outstanding performance where we saw him play a guy who is heartbroken but is having one last moment with his ex-girlfriend. It was said in the Netflix documentary, Jim and Andy, that Carrey had a conversation with the director Michael Gondry that he recently broke up with a women and Gondry asked Carrey to use that emotional state for the full year of shooting the film and boy did it work as Carrey’s performance received so much acclaim. The saddest part of this performance was that Jim was nominated for a Golden Globe, British Academy Film Award, but he was snubbed for the Academy Award. Jim Carrey’s performance was so beautiful and so out of his usual world and yet he gets snubbed for the biggest award in film ever, such disrespect. This performance is remembered by many as the film is one of the greatest films of the 21st century and it showed how dramatic Jim Carrey could be and how great of an actor he really is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZi3PhRQw00
4. Andy Kaufman (Man on the Moon) – Andy Kaufman is a comedic genius and who better to play a comedic genius than another comedic genius. In the Netflix documentary, Jim and Andy, we got to watch and learn how Jim Carrey became Andy Kaufman on set as the actor literally was Any Kaufman, according to many of the people that were interviewed in the documentary. Carrey’s method acting really took over the production of the film as we were watching Jim Carrey literally becoming Andy Kaufman right in front of our eyes. I mentioned before how no actor can make the role of The Mask as memorable and loveable like Carrey did and the same can be said for this performance as he perfectly got the awkward stare from Kaufman’s face to even doing his character Tony Clifton perfectly. Jim Carrey legit made this role his own and made it memorable. Man on the Moon isn’t one of Jim Carrey’s greatest films but his performance is by far one of his greatest of all time. Jim Carrey was once again nominated for a Golden Globe but once again I have to mention this, he was snubbed for the Academy Award. Joel Barish I could understand cause that year it was a tough class of names and performances that included Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles and Leonardo Dicaprio as Howard Hughes, but for Jim Carrey to be snubbed in the 72nd Academy Awards and not be in the class of performances that included Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington is pretty upsetting and shocking. I think Jim Carrey should have been nominated and possibly even win the award because he put on a performance for the biopic that no other actor would ever be able to pull off. Regardless many critics had positive reviews for Carrey’s performance despite the film having mixed reviews. That goes to show you how amazing of a performance it was, to the point where the film had mixed reviews but yet the performance from their leading man was in a league of its own and in a way helped gain the film its success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tqgp93zs3Y
3. Lloyd Christmas (Dumb and Dumber) – Want to hear about the most annoying character of the world? We need to go back into the year of 1994 in order to do so as he ended his biggest year in his career with the movie Dumb and Dumber playing Lloyd Christmas. Much like most of his characters on this list, Jim Carrey is the one actor that stands out from the whole cast as his performance is by far the best of the main cast. However he wouldn’t have found the success with Lloyd Christmas without the help from Harry Dune, played wonderfully by Jeff Daniels. The chemistry between the two actors work like fine wine as both of them play off each other’s jokes so well and this honestly would be a different movie had another actor played the roles of Harry and Lloyd. But for Jim Carrey’s performance, it stands out a little bit more as this was the movie that really helped sky rocket his career as while another character might have lit the fire, this was the rocket that launched him into the freaking moon and made him a household name. His performance is amazing and there were scenes where we didn’t know if Jim Carrey was improvising or reading from the script. Plus his timing and delivery in this film is spot on and I mentioned it earlier but I mean he is the most annoying character of Jim Carrey’s career. Thank god we got to see him perform the role one more time twenty years later in Dumb and Dumber Too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4AmLcBLZWY
2. Ace Ventura (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls) – Let’s stick to 1994 as the role and movie that started the fire that started the rocket that launched Jim Carrey’s career is this role right here. ALRIGHTY THEN, let’s talk about Ace Ventura. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective came out first of the three comedy films that launched Jim Carrey’s career in 1994 and while critics didn’t give it positive reviews it became a cult classic and became a signature movie when talking about Jim Carrey’s career. As for the character and his performance in the film, Carrey carries this movie on his back with his performance alone. This was the film where we would see Carrey’s comedy come to life on the big screen and the type of comedy he would be known as for many years to come. While his movie career started back in the late 80’s, this was where he started to became a household name. But it’s how Carrey brings this character to life that makes the performance so memorable and loveable. Carrey’s comedy skill helps his performance but its how he uses his comedy for the character that makes it work. For instance Carrey is known to be able to move his body and face in very comedic ways and this character defiantly embodies that ability as the mannerisms in Ace Ventura’s face shows how comedic Jim is trying to be but when you add in moments of Jim literally moving his body in weird ways with the character in Pet Detective and even the sequel When Nature Calls then you can see how comedic of the performance can become. He literally has something amazing with this ability and we see it in some of his characters, this character uses it the most. Ace Ventura is probably Jim Carrey’s most well known character as the Alrighty Then and Loser catchphrase is iconic and the character itself has this iconic look and plus the amount of times Jim Carrey improvised for his performance as this character is sky high. This was the performance that helped Jim Carrey get really noticed in Hollywood and even after The Mask and Dumb and Dumber came out, it was Ace Ventura that led their success and brought Jim Carrey into our lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLi9Xa9EK-c
1. Truman Burbank (The Truman Show) – If you never have seen The Truman Show then you need to stop what you’re doing at this very moment and watch it. Jim Carrey has shown his dramatic roles before, we established at least 2 of them on this list, but Truman Burbank is by far his greatest performance of his long career. It’s funny to think that a comedic actor’s best performance was for a psychological science fiction comedy-drama. Truman Burbank is a man who grew up with an ordinary life, but he is unaware of the fact that his whole life has been televised to the world as a television show. For many critics, they praised Jim Carrey’s performance and even said that it was his best to date. Of course this was back in 1998 but in actuality it still is his best performance ever. The man didn’t have to play a goofy character to be given so much praise, all he had to do was play a regular guy whose life was all but a lie and once he begins to find out that something isn’t right and finds out the truth he begins to find a way to leave and have a real actual life. Now even though this film had more dramatic moments than comedic moments, Jim Carrey still found ways to be comedic but he truly stayed in his dramatic roots and put on a great performance. This one performance brought Jim Carrey his fist ever Golden Globe award; he won an MTV Movie award and was nominated for multiple awards. However the biggest thing that people were considering him for was being nominated for an Academy Award and he wasn’t even nominated. Jim Carrey has never been nominated for an Academy Award but he should have been for this film and this performance as many people considered the film and his performance up for nomination. Jim Carrey literally got snubbed hard that year and but he doesn’t need the Academy award to show how great of a performance Truman Burbank was because it stands out from the actual performances that were nominated and he was able to make this performance kind of stand out from his other performances in his career. Jim Carrey showed that he can be more than a comedic actor, he could be an actor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GXxKyGPvDY
Honorable Mentions:
Ernie “Chip” Douglas (Cable Guy) – This performance is probably one of Carrey’s most underrated performances as the film itself is probably his most underrated. In a way this performance was more of a horror performance than his role in his film The Number 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZjdYG61Wpc
Fletcher Reede (Liar, Liar) – Jim Carrey has some of the best comedic moments in his career in this one film and his performance is top notch here and that’s something I can’t LIE about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87w655s3xKc
Bruce Nolan (Bruce Almighty) – I mean when you have to perform just a great as Morgan Freeman, who is playing GOD, then yeah you better have a great performance and Carrey most defiantly did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lzPzAkNIjA
Steven Jay Russell (I Love You Phillip Morris) – Not many people know about this movie but this highly recommended film has a great performance from Jim Carrey that will leave you speechless. Plus he gets to show more of his dramatic side in this film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SyCdnEQZZM
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