Jim Carrey Needs A New Agent

[Y 2 Jake]

He was the king of comedy cinema in the mid to late 90's. He was one of the only guaranteed box office draws at that time, along with Tom Cruise & Will Smith. But that all appeared to change once he tried to become a serious actor. He hasn't had a great film in years. With the exception of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but that is either a love it hate it film. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was made to capitalize on the success of the Harry Potter films, and while it was ok it didn't make nearly enough money, hence no sequel in sight.

The Number 23 was a nice change in style for him. But the film is poor and it's hard to imagine that he would have done anything like that if he was still as popular as he once was.

His run of 8 films in the 90's was pretty good. Not from a quality standpoint. But each made a good ammount of money, and if they didn't then they shure have now. I hear The Cable Guy sells very well on DVD. It was one of those films that took a little time for people to get it.

 

[Davi323]

Maybe his priorities changed. Maybe, he is busy doing other things with his life, because he has made his fortune already. Maybe he sees Tom Hanks go from bankable comic to good actor, and like Hanks, is actively trying to get away from being typecast as a comic only. Maybe He has grown up a little, and doing the same slapstick stuff he did in Dumb and Dumber simply doesn't appeal to him anymore. To blame the direction his career has taken on his agent is just stupid. If the agent was the problem, Carrey would have dumped him a long time ago.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's just a title, silly.

Carrey might not want to do films like Dumb & Dumber anymore. He obviously started to do films like The Truman Show & The Majestic for artistic integrity. But the fact is that he's still making films, and they aren't drawing nowhere near what they used to. Now if he's going to star in afilm, then he wants to be in a film, he also wants to get paid. But if he continues to do films that don't make a significant profit then his fee will go down.

The difference between Hanks & Carrey is that Hank isn't remembered for his comedic roles anymore, but Carrey is. They were also two very different comedians. Hanks was in comedy films, but he was never a clown.

 

[Davi323]

But, is the reason Hanks isn't remembered for the comedy roles merely because he has had better success than Carrey at transitioning out of it? Do you really think Jim Carrey even still cares about getting 20 mil a picture?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

But, is the reason Hanks isn't remembered for the comedy roles merely because he has had better success than Carrey at transitioning out of it?

Yeah which means that Tom Hanls was either offered better roles than him, or Carrey was offered good roles but turned them down.

Do you really think Jim Carrey even still cares about getting 20 mil a picture?

I think him not being offered 20 million per film must bother him. You go from being one of the biggest stars of the last decade to just another actor and it'll have some effect.

 

[Dysturbed]

While I agree that from an ego perspective (I'm not saying that in a bad way rather in a way that suggests what you did being that people generally probably like recognition) he'd probably be at least bothered if his asking price went down, I read a few months ago that he wasn't even accepting a paycheck from his next movie rather being paid based on it's success.

I just saw that mentioned on wiki as when this thread got me interested in his next alleged projects. I realize that wiki alone isn't proof and I'm not sure where I initially heard it so take what I just said at only a possibility. However if it's true it's commendable imo and would make him an apparent rarity who isn't too concerned with his standing.

Anyway, not that success an be predicted based on the concept of the film alone but his next few movies sound like they have a chance of success.

Yes man sounds humerous enough to maybe make a lot of money

A Christmas Carol, while a story with a large number of versions, very well could be a success based on it presumably being family oriented.

I Love You Phillip Morris sounds serious so it's away from what he's most known for.

Ripley's Believe It or Not!, if an autobiography (he's playing Robert Ripley so it seems like a safe bet) will probably have comedic elements but again not be what he was initially known for.

Going back to the first post, he still may not end up as a guaranteed draw with his next four projects but success overall may still prove to be in his future.

 

[Big Ace]

I think that Jim Carrey and Will Smith are the same in a lot of ways.

Both guys started out on the comedic side, and now that they're in their late-30's-early 40's, they think that they don't want to just be remembered for comedy movies that don't gain as much as an action-thriller might.

Will Smith for me, is the biggest movie star in the world today. Unlike Carrey, something about him appeals to so many demographics, he's done romance-comedy, sci-fi thrillers, buddy cop, even superhero and drama movies. It's something about Smith that Carrey lacks though.

Carrey's done a few good movies where he's played a serious actor, but to tell you the truth, Jim Carrey is like...a more main-stream version of Adam Sandler. It's hard to put into words, seeing as how Sandler offers a distinct type of comedy (Don't Mess with the Zohan, you either hated it or loved it) but the only thing Sandler's done that wasn't comedy was Stand By Me (which was a damn good movie).

Carrey's got Yes Man, coming out this winter. It's looking a little bit like Liar, Liar (judging by the trailer) and hopefully we'll see him go back to his old ways where he was more of a financial success.

 

[Dysturbed]

^^^

Jim Carrey did start out on the comedic side for the most part and his actual success was of course based on comedy but to get literal for a moment, he did have a few non comedic roles prior to being well known. Once Bitten for example wasn't a serious movie but his character wasn't like the ones that he became known for when he had his string of hits. He was also in The Dead Pool in a minor role, though it wasn't comedic.

the only thing Sandler's done that wasn't comedy was Stand By Me (which was a damn good movie).

I believe that you mean Reign over me though Punch Drunk Love was a departure a few years before that. Still that's only two movies so like you said his roles are mostly distinct. In a sense Spanglish can maybe be included as a departure as well cause while the movie was a comedy it was a departure from his normal kind of characters so that may or not be fitting as far as it being a bit different than what's normal for him. So your point still stands but I wanted to point out that he has done a little more on the serious side beyond Reign Over Me though that was certainly his most serious role to date.

When guys like him go away from what they're known for the movies don't generally end up being successful which kind of sucks but isn't surprising.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

When Jim Carrey first becamse a huge star, he was not a king of comedy. He was more like the King of Fart jokes. And sure he made alot of money doing this but he took a long look at other people's careers who spent their whole time as comedians and the blueprint was this. Your fans will only love what you do for so long. Look at Dana Carvey. Look at Bill Murray. Look at Leslie Neilsen. All of these are very funny men, but when people didn't find the same joke to be funny anymore, it they lost their marketability.

If anything, I think that by changing from the Ace Ventura/Dumb and Dumber type of roles, he gained alot of respect from everyone and only increased his marketability. If Carrey had done Man on The Moon before he took risks in his career and showed his range, I would never have watched it. But when I did, I saw that he is a true actor and not just a comedic actor or a comedian attempting to be an actor. When i saw him portraying Andy Kaufman, I was drawn into the story more because I wasn't sitting there expecting him to do something stupid or funny. I watched because he was telling a story. And I believe that this is what Carrey is trying to do with his career. He is taking focus off of the silliness and the jokes and putting emphasis back into the storyline. He is letting you watch unhendered and without pre-cognitions.

Sure, he can always fall back on comedy, as seen in Fun With Dick and Jane. But by concentrating on making the character funny rather than making the character into Jim Carrey, it only makes the story funnier as a whole. Now I must admit that I did not care for The Number 23, but knowing what Jim Carrey was now capable of made me anticipate if greatly. It was a shit story, but a story that I wanted to see nonetheless. By doing these parts Carrey is giving himself longevity and range. And I must say that if he keeps it up, his well will never run dry as he ascended from being characterized as just another one trick pony comedian to being a true artist.