Jim Carrey names the five greatest comedy movies in cinema history: “They will last forever”
While there’s no denying that his biggest movies have plenty of fans, it’s a lot harder to suggest that any Jim Carrey comedy is deserving of a place among the greatest rib-ticklers cinema has ever produced.
The actor’s rubber-faced antics turned him from a sketch series performer into a Hollywood superstar in less than a year, and even though audiences couldn’t get enough of his signature schtick for a long time, calling Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber, The Mask, or Bruce Almighty an all-timer is a stretch.
That’s not to say they don’t have funny moments, and an entire generation used to spend their free time doing nothing but shouting Carrey quotes at each other in a time before memes and social media, but it’s difficult to imagine a world where any of them make the Criterion Collection or are preserved for their cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance in the Library of Congress.
Carrey set his sights on a career in comedy from an early age, and there are few better ways to master the basics than brushing up on those who came before. He immersed himself in the films, stand-up routines, and TV shows that he wanted to emulate, and he conquered the genre in the 1990s, so he wasn’t pulling random names out of a hat when he was asked to name the five best that have ever been made.
Well, he did with one of them, but he was being biased. “Modern Times was pure genius for many different reasons, not only for the brilliance of the set pieces. You can’t beat those things. They will last forever,” he told Inquirer. “A Shot in the Dark with Peter Sellers. When people think of Peter Sellers, they think of The Pink Panther movies and leave that one out. But that’s a gem.”
That’s a Charlie Chaplin masterpiece and an unsung gem from his biggest inspiration, so what else? Two from the same director, as it turns out. “Shampoo is a brilliant movie, a comedy with a backdrop that’s completely serious, political, and poignant,” Carrey continued. “A lot of Hal Ashby’s movies, like Harold and Maude. In that film, when you see the tattoo on Maude’s arm, all that was ridiculous and funny suddenly come together in a very serious idea.”
As mentioned, one of his chosen quintet is not like the others, with Carrey feeling the need to massage his ego. “I would have to include mine in the mix; The Cable Guy,” he declared. “I should have gotten an Academy Award for that, but they don’t give an Oscar for that sort of thing.”
Hopefully, he’s not being serious, because he does not give an Oscar-worthy performance in The Cable Guy. That said, it was unappreciated in its time and has been gradually embraced as a cult favourite, with Carrey’s paycheque and a misleading marketing campaign overshadowing one of the most daring and subversive turns he’s ever committed to screen. It’s his list, though, so if he wants to choose himself, why not?
Jim Carrey’s five favourite comedy movies:
- Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
- A Shot in the Dark (Blake Edwards, 1964)
- Shampoo (Hal Ashby, 1975)
- Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
- The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller, 1996)
