THE MASK

Stars: Jim Carrey. Rated PG-13 for stylized violence.

The with success of "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and the positive advance word-of-mouth on "The Mask", actor Jim Carrey now commands a respectable $7 million per film. Is he worth it? As much as anyone in Hollywood is worth such an exorbitant figure. Although hardly a master thespian, he has no equal when it comes to physical comedy. Although his latest film is filled with high-tech wizardry, his unique style of buffoonery is not give short shrift.

Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey), a hapless bank clerk for whom nothing ever seems to go right, one day stumbles upon an old wooden mask. Whenever he puts on the mask it envelopes his whole head in fluorescent green substance and likewise gives his personality a radical make-over. But more importantly, the mask instills him with seemingly endless powers. He can change his own form, defy the laws of physics, and move at a phenomenal rate. The mask, it turns out, is the place to which the Norse god of mischief was banished. Because this god is a night god, the masks only possesses its strange powers at night.

Stanley, while in the guise of The Mask, unwittingly draws the ire of a local crime lord. He also draws the suspicions of the police in regards to a trio of bizarre incidents. The first of these is when The Mask confronts Stanley's landlady and proceeds to bounce off the walls of their building. The second is when The Mask vandalizes the auto repair shop that ripped him off in the recent past. The third occurs when The Mask steal bags and bags of money from the bank at which Stanley is employed. Although he can't be held accountable for his actions when wearing the mask and can't remember what he's done when he wakes the next morning, it really is just drawing to the surface his subconscious desires.

Of course, the mask will work for anyone who puts it on and this gives the aforementioned crime lord an idea. For him the mask further draws out his already evil nature and makes him an enemy to be reckoned with. So when he does steal the mask, no one in town is safe. Then again, there is the matter of the third wearer of the mask...

With its highly imaginative special effects and outlandish make-up jobs, "The Mask" is an early front-runner for two Academy Award nominations. It's also tailor-made to show off Jim Carrey's peculiar talents. Fans of the absurd will relish this movie with the same devilish glee that our hero sports every time he dons the mask. And why not? It's fun with a capital F.


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