The Mask 1994

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: Carrey and his aggressive overbite are back, but this time he's better used as an ingredient instead of as the plot. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Not only is he adept at physical humor, the kind of knockabout stuff that recalls the classic silent clowns, but Carrey also has a bright and likable screen presence, a lost puppy quality that is surprisingly endearing. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: If a movie star was born in Ace Ventura, he is christened in The Mask. Quite simply, this is the best and freest crazy comedy to come along since Beetlejuice. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: When his face turns green and his limbs get limber, Carrey's pretty much unstoppable. This cartoon-y creation is an amazing fusion of physical comedy and state-of-the- art cinema illusion. Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: Bright-eyed, crazily intense, irrepressibly silly, Mr. Carrey can be funny without fireworks. He deserves material clever enough to let him do just that. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The results are easy to watch, though awfully familiar and simpleminded. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Carrey now has the clout to find a vehicle worthy of his hyperactive gooniness. When he does, we'll see if he's truly a jester for our time or simply the moron of the moment. Read more

Michael Sragow, New Yorker: The gangland plot is flimsy (bad guy Peter Greene wears too much eyeliner), and the jokes are erratic, but it's a far better showcase for Carrey's comic-from-Uranus talent than Ace Ventura. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As a comedy, The Mask is genial, but its recycled plot is far too thin for the film to succeed as either an adventure or a spoof. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The Mask is a perfect vehicle for the talents of Jim Carrey, who underwhelmed me with Ace Ventura, Pet Detective but here seems to have found a story and character that work together with manic energy. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: The design is bright as a button and the transformation scenes real eye-poppers, but the film's best special effect is putty-faced Carrey with his razzle-dazzle star turn as the affable Stanley and his manic alter ego. Read more

Leonard Klady, Variety: Adroitly directed, viscerally and visually dynamic and just plain fun. Read more

Joe Brown, Washington Post: Even without the state-of-the-art, boundary-busting computerized effects from Industrial Light & Magic, Carrey's a human cartoon, and his spontaneous, Avery-esque, anything-for-a-laugh outrageousness makes this otherwise blank Mask a must-see. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: Doesn't have any more material than a Tex Avery cartoon. Read more