He threw the whole thing out of balance by being too big and by NOT FUCKING ACTING, THAT ASSHEAD.

I never, for a single second he was onscreen, believed that he was anyone but Jim Carrey

Ah, you've confirmed for me that I would rather sit through Magnolia again than see Lemony Snicket. Because what you just described is what I see in every movie of his that I've ever seen. (Though, to be fair, I haven't seen Eternal Sunshine yet.)

He's just so explosive and bombastic and attention-whoring, and to me it smacks of a needy greedy "Look at me! LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEE!" impulse.

And that just ain't acting.

I"m not a Carrey fan, but in the wedding part he was genuinely creepy. I got the feeling that Violet wasn't going to be long for this world once that went through. Granted, on the whole he was slapstick rather than evil, but he does that well.

Aunt Josephine's house slowly falling apart around them was truly scary. And when Olaf/Carrey slowly pushed Josephine's boat away, and you *knew* what was going to happen to her, that was delightfully evil.

If you despise Carrey, you'll want a good parts version. If you are willing to give him a chance, it's a very uneven performance if you want evil, but he can do creepy very nicely.

And I've loved him in Eternal Sunshine and Truman Show and even The Mask, where the Max Fleischer-y Mask is a deliberate id-rampant antithesis to his sweetly grave and earnest human self. He can act, and he can even be genuinely funny (and a thousand times more interesting) when he does. It makes me fucking nuts when he chooses not to.

My guess? He was encouraged to go OTT by the director, because, well, that's why we hired him. I mean yes, there is an onus on the actor to reign themselves in, but I can also see getting caught up in the moment on-set and just running with it (and, apparently, running and running and running).

Because what you just described is what I see in every movie of his that I've ever seen. (Though, to be fair, I haven't seen Eternal Sunshine yet.)

ETERNAL SUNSHINE is not just a good Jim Carrey performance, but a good performance period, IMHO. However, I also thought the same about THE TRUMAN SHOW and MAN IN THE MOON (the latter, admittedly playing someone who was OTT and hard to take in real life, but what a stunning impersonation), so take that as a guideline (warning?) if you saw either of those and felt that way about him there.

The only way I can bear living in a world where Jim Carrey is as popular and loved by the masses as he is is mentally picturing Lauren Holly wearing diamonds and a mink coat, stretched out on a bed covered in $100 bills, saying "thank God for California's community property laws!"

Bah. I actually generally like Carrey, and I loathed him here. Not creepy, not evil. Obviously, YCMV.

My favorite Carrey movie is The Cable Guy. Creepy/funny movie. But it was so long ago that I saw it I wonder if I'd feel the same way now about it....

My guess? He was encouraged to go OTT by the director, because, well, that's why we hired him.

I think the opposite -- the director failed to reign him in, and so he went with his natural comic instincts. (Which is ALWAYS a mistake, IMO. If you listen to Michel Gondry talk about the rehearsal process for Eternal Sunshine, it's pretty clear that his goal was to wear Carrey out as much as possible so that his performance would be toned down from exhaustion. Jim Carrey is capable of very good acting, but it doesn't come naturally. He needs to be directed.)

If you listen to Michel Gondry talk about the rehearsal process for Eternal Sunshine, it's pretty clear that his goal was to wear Carrey out as much as possible so that his performance would be toned down from exhaustion.

Wow. Someone give that man a cookie.

Cable Guy, while not my favourite Carrey movie (I think I prefer both Mask and Liar, Liar) failed for the reasons I didn't hate it -- Carrey was so nasty and creepy, and that's what I've always thought of him.

See, I LIKED Carrey in the film. The OTT stuff went over very well with the younger kids in the theater I saw it in. He was scary, but not scary enough to give six-year-olds nightmares, and kids adore broad humor and he was the only one providing it. The ony ones laughing at Streep (who I totally agree was brilliant) were adults. We were there with friends whose son was frightened to death by Star Wars, and didn't sleep for months and when he did sleep had horrendous nightmares. They were checking this out for him to see fo rthat reason, so it was on my mind.