The Mask (1994)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Chuck Russell

Writers (WGA):

Michael Fallon (story) and
Mark Verheiden (story) ...

Release Date:

29 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

From zero to hero

Plot:

Bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic super-hero when he wears a mysterious mask.

Plot Keywords:

Mask | Bank | Bank Clerk | Superhero | Beauty

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Jim Carrey	...	Stanley Ipkiss
Peter Riegert	...	Lt. Mitch Kellaway
Peter Greene	...	Dorian Tyrell
Amy Yasbeck	...	Peggy Brandt
Richard Jeni	...	Charlie Schumaker
Orestes Matacena	...	Niko
Tim Bagley	...	Irv Ripley
Nancy Fish	...	Mrs. Peenman
Johnny Williams	...	Burt Ripley
Reg E. Cathey	...	Freeze (as Reginald E. Cathey)
Jim Doughan	...	Detective Doyle
Denis Forest	...	Sweet Eddy
Cameron Diaz	...	Tina Carlyle
Joseph Alfieri	...	Police Officer
B.J. Barie	...	Alley Punk #1

Also Known As:

La máscara (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
лЮЯЙЮ (Russia) [ru]
A Máscara (Portugal) [pt]
A maszk (Hungary) [hu]
Die Maske (Germany) [de]
I maska (Greece) [el]
Jim Carreys Die Maske (Germany) (TV title) [de]
La màscara (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Le masque (Canada: French title) [fr]
Mask - naamio (Finland) [fi]
Maska (Serbia) [sr]
Maska (Poland) [pl]
Maska (Slovenia) [sl]
O Máscara (Brazil) [pt]
O Máskara (Brazil) [pt]
The Mask (France) [fr]
The mask - da zero a mito (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some stylized violence.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Argentina:Atp (original rating) | Brazil:Livre | Ireland:12 | Iceland:12 | USA:TV-PG (edited tv version) | UK:12 (DVD rating) | USA:PG (cut) | New Zealand:M | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:II | Japan:U | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Thailand:PD-14

Filming Locations:

6th Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dark Horse Entertainment

Trivia:

The oversized teeth on the Mask character were originally to be used only during silent scenes. However, Jim Carrey learned to talk with them on to make his character that much more wacky.

Goofs:

Continuity: Windows visible in the car after supposedly being blown out.

Quotes:

Bobby: Uh, are you on the list?
The Mask: Noooo. But I believe my friends are. Perhaps you know them.
[He takes fistfuls of high denomination cash out of his pocket]
The Mask: Franklin, Grant, and... Jackson?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 2nd Annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Summer Blockbuster Review (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name

How to cast Jim Carrey

It's hard to use Jim Carrey in a movie. He's very good at his rapid-fire mimicry routine, but how can it ever be anything other than a diversion from both character and story? (Very rarely is it a pleasant diversion. `Ace Ventura' was unendurable.) And yet, what else can you do with him?

The `Mask' solves the problem so neatly it almost cheats. The story is ABOUT someone with a double life - so by day, Carrey does all the character and story stuff, and by night, wearing the mask, he does his stand-up schtick. The two are as integrated as they need to be. It's pulled off with such an air of innocence I can't possibly complain. SOME of the clichés (those to do with the police especially) are so very worn out that even the most thorough of movie-goers is surprised to find them still alive; but the writer seems to have been honestly unaware that they were clichés, so that's okay.

I was told that the film is saturated with animation in-jokes. I couldn't spot very many. Stanley-with-the-mask has the soul of a Tex Avery cartoon character: I suspect that's all there is to it. The computer animation, or the computer-enhancement of Carrey's animation, is tastefully done. It never looks pasted over the top of the footage the way so much computer animation does. (`The Mask' failed to win an Oscar in the special effects category - like so many other more deserving films, it was beaten by `Forrest Gump'.) The Cuban dance numbers are irresistible, as is Stanley's pet dog. Sure, `The Mask' is no masterpiece, but it's a clever, charming film that richly deserved its runaway success.