excellent all around

Rating: 10/10 (19 March 2004)

I went into this movie hoping that it would live up to the good reviews that I had heard and read just prior to seeing it, and I must say that it lived up to those expectations and that Jim Carrey far surpassed them. I think that Carrey has finally broken completely free of his "Ace Ventura" type-casted role in my mind. Even his dramatic work in "Bruce Almighty" had some residual feelings of that goofy kind of character (albeit it was called for in the role and overall I liked the movie). But now he simply shines out with a beautiful piece of work that I left the theater still in awe of. I rarely exit a movie being truly struck, without further contemplation, by an actor's work, but this was definitely one of those rare moments. The movie was also surprisingly easy to follow after perhaps the first 15-20 minutes and the love story was truly beautiful. Overall I was extremely pleased with the results.