With Jim Carrey, there are always plenty of laughs

In Jim Carrey’s newest release, “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” out today, Carrey brings his comedic fanfare down to a family-friendly level in order to play the title character of the beloved book that has resonated with children over the last seven decades.

That’s all good and fun, but what makes Jim Carrey Jim Carrey is his berserk, obnoxious, out-there characters that he perfected early on in his career. Yes, Carrey has done some wonderful dramas over the years — “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004), “The Truman Show” (1998) and portraying the complicated Andy Kaufman in “Man on the Moon” (1999) — but when you hear the name Jim Carrey, you automatically think of comedy. The two are just synonymous with each other, from his days on “In Living Color” to his bizarre MTV Movie Awards appearance in 1999.

And so, here are my top 5 comedic performances (in no particular order) by the one-and-only Jim Carrey.

“Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” — Ace Ventura (1994) — “Alrighty, then.” For Carrey’s first major movie role, he played the dumbfounded pet detective with a big heart who must solve the case of the missing football mascot — a dolphin — after it was stolen just before the Super Bowl. With classic one-liners, talking butts and even an appearance by Dan Marino, Carrey cemented himself as one of Hollywood’s leading funny men with this breakout role.

“The Mask” — Stanley Ipkiss (1994) — “S-s-s-s-smokin’!!” When under-appreciated banker Ipkiss mistakes an old wooden mask for a person drowning in a river, he thinks nothing of it. Until he takes the mask home, puts it on and is transformed into a confidant, lovable man of mystery — in cartoon form. “The Mask” is just a whole lot of fun — especially the scene where he tricks all the cops into dancing and forming a giant conga line to the song “Cuban Pete” as a distraction for him to get away.

“Batman Forever” — Riddler / Dr. Edward Nygma (1995) — “Riddle me this…” Carrey added a lot of fun to an otherwise cheesy film with his Riddler character. Otherwise known as Dr. Edward Nygma, a former employee of Bruce Wayne’s (aka Batman, played by Val Kilmer), the Riddler creates a device that will drain information from the human brain, including Wayne’s, which contains the knowledge of his other identity. Teaming up with Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face character, these two put on one solid show that managed to outshine the debonair Kilmer.

“Liar Liar” — Fletcher Reede (1997) — “I CAN’T LIE!” Carrey brings his usual eccentric best to “Liar Liar,” where he plays a lawyer who can’t lie for 24 hours after his son makes it his birthday wish. Having built his career on lying, you could see where this wish could create quite a snag for Reede, but it’s all the funnier for us to watch. Carrey was also nominated for a Golden Globe for this performance.

“Dumb & Dumber” — Lloyd Christmas (1994) — “Mock! Yeah! Ing! Yeah! Bird! Yeah!” Just as it states, “Dumb & Dumber” is dumb … but it’s still hilarious. Lloyd is a limo driver in Rhode Island who develops a crush on one of his passengers (Lauren Holly). After she leaves a briefcase in the airport (on purpose that is), Lloyd puts all his effort into returning the briefcase — which happens to be full of ransom money — back to her in Aspen, Colo. Joining him for the ride is his buddy Harry (Jeff Daniels), a pet groomer. Along the way a few — OK a lot of — hijinks ensue. It’s the ultimate slapstick buddy comedy that gets funnier the more you watch it. And just last week, Carrey made it known that a sequel is in the works.

HONORABLE MENTION:
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” — Grinch (2000) — “Oh, the Who-manity!” Based on the beloved Dr. Seuss character, Carrey’s real-life Grinch may end up with a big heart, but before he turns his life around the Grinch is a nasty creature who hates Christmas. And although Carrey may be covered in green makeup and fur, he does a great job at bringing out his signature style of comedy to a more lovable, less-obnoxious character. Despite the heartwarming nature of the story, his comedy still works well within the film. So much that it’s the highest grossing Christmas film of all time.