Product Review

Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz star in this '90s US comedy. After being thrown out of the Coco Bongo nightclub one sad evening, timid bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) happens across a powerful Norse mask in the river which transforms him into a wise-cracking, zoot-suited, green-faced superhero. With his new-found charm and powers, which include infinite malleability of his own body, Stanley chats up the gorgeous woman of his dreams, singer Tina Carlyle (Diaz), robs his own bank, outwits the cops and demolishes the local hoods. His extravagant nightly exploits attract the unwanted attention of Lt. Mitch Kellaway (Peter Riegert) and Tina's boyfriend Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene), who is trying to exert his own control over the city. Praised at the time for Jim Carrey's facial acrobatics as the titular hero, The Mask also had real charm in its use of period-ambiguous settings and intelligent use of its heroine, Cameron Diaz in her first screen role. Carrey is as interesting when he's the put-upon Stanley Ipkiss as he is when he transforms into an amoral cartoon character (thanks to chance discovery of an ancient mask). When a sweet woman reporter tells him that he is the nicest man in town, it does not strike us as odd. The plot is a pretty standard one--the hero comes to realise that he can do everything for himself and does not need magical assistance--but outstanding performances by Peter Green as the gangster heavy and Peter Riegret as the irascible cop who has to make sense of things offers the film a bit more dramatic oomph. Add to this a couple of splendid song-and-dance routines and one of the most charming dogs in modern movies, and you have something moderately special.