Mugger, Mugger

Rating: 7/10 (1 November 2002)

Caught up with this one on TV last night. Beats me why anyone would want to be the new Jerry Lewis, but My Lord, Jim Carrey surely does seem to want to be here. (Or perhaps he'd rather be a cartoon? He certainly seemed ideal for The Mask and The Riddler.)
He mugs, he pratfalls, he does funny (?) voices, he even literally beats himself up, in pursuit of a laugh. But it's an awful lot of effort for a fairly poor return.
The plot is basically the same as Bob Hope's Nothing But the Truth, with the addition of a mystical element (and does it strike you as strange how many adults are willing to believe that a child's birthday wish has come true, after about two seconds of convincing?) I bailed out before the no holds barred, all stops out sentimental redeeming climax, which was being telegraphed so heavily, I was suffering sugar overload ten minutes before it arrived.
Reasonably entertaining. 7 out of 10 because I'm feeling generous.