Without Jim Carrey, this cult film of the 90s would never have been so successful

Released in France in October 1994, the excellent comedy “The Mask” stars Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz in the unlikely story of a bank employee who finds a magical mask endowed with “phenomenal cosmic powers” that allow him to unleash his illusions. He will have to choose to keep the mask and its unlimited power, or accept himself and get rid of it.

What would be left without Kerry?

Jim Carrey is the main asset of the film. If it weren’t for him, we might only be able to protect the mask from a beautiful special effects sequence (the first attempt to combine 3D animation with live action), the talent of Cameron Diaz, and some sympathetic supporting actors like Callaway, played by Peter. Riegert.

A true betrayal of the material it’s based on – the comics are extremely violent and gruesome – on the other hand, The Mask does a great job of doing what it was designed to do: entertain, fill theaters in the middle of summer (it was released in late July in the US) and make the most of its lead actor’s abilities. . There is no mask without Jim Carrey, because the mask was designed so that his facial expressions are visible, his body participates in the character’s movements, and the special effects are only to show the unrealization.

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With Jim, it’s square

Without Kerry, everything would be different, as it is here He testified Directed by Chuck Russell: “The guys at ILM estimated that after they hired Jim, they saved almost a million dollars in special effects just because of what he was able to do compared to what we originally wanted.

This is due to the fact that he performs particularly well physically even without special effects and the impersonations and accents that he distills throughout the film. On the picture side, references rain down, from Tex Avery to Clint Eastwood, including the voice of the mask itself and the famous song Cuban Petit (Sancho the Cuban in French), a bravura part of the film:

Russell concludes: “When Carey became successful, he became a major asset. A major asset. Before that, he was a secret weapon. . . . But I’m the least surprised in the whole business that Jimmy became a movie star. I knew his audience. It was there.”

Let’s not forget that in 1994, despite being a huge comedian on the stage, Jim Carrey was still unknown. He had barely filmed the first Ace Ventura when he began filming The Mask, which allowed him to explode around the world. And this is due only to his talent.