Jim Carrey Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked"-a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted accolades and superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Jim Carrey-whose latest project "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" hits theaters tonight. 

Jim Carrey's Filmography Ranked:

19.The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (D+)

18.Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (C-)

17.How the Grinch Stole Christmas (C-)

16.Dumb and Dumber To (C)

15.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (C)

14.Fun with Dick and Jane (C+)

13.Batman Forever (C+)

12.Mr. Popper's Penguins (B-)

11.Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (B)

10.Bruce Almighty (B)

9.Sonic the Hedgehog (B)

8.The Truman Show (B)

7.Kick-Ass 2 (B+)

6.The Mask (B+)

5.Yes Man (B+)

4.Liar Liar (B+)

3.Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (B+)

2.Dumb and Dumber (B+)

1.Me, Myself & Irene (A)

Top Dog: Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

Everything Carrey did in the 90's was just an extended warm-up for the masterclass he put on Me, Myself & Irene. Playing a dual role in this manic Farrelly Brothers project provides Carrey with the perfect vehicle to showcase his physical and silly comedy gifts, which catapults this movie to a level of hilarity that none of his other movies have reached.    

Lowlight: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is an unwelcome throwback to the 90's and 2000's when studios would routinely get a bunch of funny people together then churn out an inexplicably lazy, unfunny turd. Here, Steve Carrell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Carrey, Alan Arkin and James Gandolfini were the unlucky gifted souls that found themselves trapped in a movie that spectacularly fails in its efforts to poke fun at the ridiculous world of celebrity magicians.     

Most Overrated: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

While watching Adaptation a few years ago made me realize that Charlie Kaufman's work could be much more insufferable than this, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is still smug, quirky and pretentious enough to remain pretty off-putting to me.

Most Underrated: Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Making a sequel to a cult favorite movie that turned the superhero genre on its head was a tall order made even more difficult by the fact that the director of the original wasn't making it (Jeff Wadlow took over for Matthew Vaughn). While Kick-Ass 2 definitely falls short of the original, the further development of the spiritual sibling bond between Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), a darkly hilarious performance from Carrey as Kick-Ass' new vigilante ally Colonel Stars and Stripes and another round of wild, bloody action sequences are certainly enough to dub it a worthy continuation of the franchise.     

Comedy That Has Probably Aged the Worst: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a goofy 90's classic that played an integral part in Carrey's ascent to Hollywood stardom. The dark side to its revered status is that a lot of the humor probably doesn't hold up to scrutiny 28 years later. It's not exactly a secret that there are a good number of jokes here that are rooted in blatant homophobia and transphobia here-which is a recurring theme in comedies from this era that has only become more glaring in recent years- and that discriminatory bullshit definitely chips away at the nostalgic power its long held for people that are currently between the ages of 25 and 40. One of these days I'll have to figure out how much this adulthood revelation impacts my actual enjoyment of it     

2000's Carrey Comedy That is Better than Most of his 90's Work: Yes Man (2008)

What differentiates Yes Man from much of Carrey's early work is the sheer amount of warmth radiating it from it. This film manages to be really sweet, upbeat and positive while also being consistently funny and silly. Heart, humor and stupidity is a really winning combination for Carrey and I'm kind of surprised that he hasn't chosen to explore this side of himself further over the past decade or so.