Half good, half mush

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2003)

This movie felt like it might have been written for Jim Carrey and his recent schizophrenic cinematic behavior. The first half is almost constantly hilarious, with some scenes that milk the laughs longer than you might think possible, and they are very effective in said milking! This is actually in part because of the supporting actor Phillip Baker Hall's very tight performance. At the height of the film's energy (about 35 minutes into it) Carrey is at his best. Problem is, the movie takes a pedagogical turn soon after that peak and the rest is overly dramatic mush. True, the lesson Carrey's character learns is valuable, but the laughs are few and far between while he is learning it. Carrey again shows that he can handle dramatic material quite well. He is not as good as he was in The Truman Show or Man in the Moon, but he is at about the same good level as he was in The Majestic. He certainly emotes well, but, and this is interesting, he is unable to use his body convincingly in these more dramatic scenes. He is the master of comedic body work, but has yet to learn to use the body and its motions to communicate the depth of emotion involved in the dramatic scenes.
In any case, the movie is well worth at least the price of a matinee ticket, and it is refreshing to see Carrey take his place again as the king of physical, farcical comedy. It would be great to see him take that talent all the way through a movie again, like he did in Liar, Liar so well.