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JIM CARREY:
A Comic Chameleon
Robert Kent
Jim Carrey is one of
Hollywood’s
most
successful comedy
stars ever.
However, this amazingly talented
actor was born and raised in Canada.He started his show business career
at the age of 15. He began entertaining audiences in comedy clubs
in Toronto. He quickly became known as a
stand-up
comic with a real talent for
off-beat
humour. In 1981 Carrey moved to Los Angeles where he performed
regularly at the famous Comedy Store. A year later he took the
starring role in an American television series called Duck Factory. At the same time he appeared in his
first film, a vampire comedy called First Bitten.
Ace Ventura American audiences then saw Carrey on television in 1994 in Ace
Ventura: Pet Detective. As Ventura, Carrey created an unforgettable
sleuth tracking down animals rather than people in the urban jungle of
modern America. A year later Carrey launched this character in the first
of the Ace Ventura films and established himself instantly as a
world-wide box office megastar. He has never been anything else since.
The Mask Carrey then achieved a cult status with his next film, The Mask.
Here Carrey plays a character whose conservative approach to life
is turned inside out when he puts on a magical mask. Carrey’s face in this
film is as magical as his character’s mask. It is better than almost
anything ever drawn in a comic book.
Liar, Liar Carrey’s next
blockbuster comedy, Dumb and Dumber, took him to
even greater success in 1995. This film was voted ‘Favourite Film’ in
the USA by The People’s Choice Awards. And then, in 1997, Carrey
achieved the impossible. He bettered all his previous performances on
the silver screen. In Liar, Liar he plays a
silver-tongued lawyer
to whom lying is a way of life. The lawyer’s world
is turned upside down
when his son’s birthday wish forces him to tell the truth - and nothing
but the truth - for a full 24 hours. Carrey’s character creates
chaos
all around him and life will never be the same again.
The Truman Show And with The Truman Show, Carrey ensures his place for ever in
the comedy superstar hall of fame. In this movie Carrey plays Truman
Burbank. Burbank sees himself as a totally average man who, at thirty,
is totally content with his
lot in life. However, a number of strange
events makes Burbank wonder if life in the picture-perfect town of
Seahaven is all that it seems.
In fact, without knowing it, Burbank is
the star of The Truman Show, the most popular and longest running
documentary-soap opera on American television. Seahaven is, in fact,
nothing more than a giant
film set. Everyone Burbank meets is really a
paid actor.
Fly-on-the-wall cameras capture every second of Burbank’s
existence on earth. The result is wonderfully funny.
In this world-within-a-world, Carrey creates a character whose
experiences reflect all the tensions, fears and hopes of modern man at
the end of the twentieth century. In this sense, Carrey’s character is a
True Man who speaks to us all. There is no doubt that The Truman Show
is set to become a classic of comedy and one of the best films of all
time.
Source: English Digest
GLOSSARY
stand-up:
working standing
(que
trabaja solo, de pie) off-beat: [informal term] strikingly
unconventional(nada convencional) sleuth:detective (detective) is turned
inside out:
is reversed (se
da
vuelta) a blockbuster: an
unusually successful hit with widespread popularity and huge
sales (especially a movie or play or recording or novel) (un
éxito de taquilla) silver-tongued:
someone who talks fast and skilfully (locuaz)
is turned
upside down:
is disturbed, disarranged (sele viene abajo) chaos:
state of extreme confusion and disorder (caos) content:
satisfied, showing satisdaction
with things as they are (satisfecho)
lot:
fate, destiny (suerte,
destino) film set:
where films are made (estudio
de cine) fly-on-the-wall cameras: monitoring
cameras (cámaras
sorpresa que monitorean la vida de una persona)
READING
COMPREHENSION
ACTIVITY
TRY
TO IDENTIFY THE TITLES OF THE FOLLOWING MOVIES WHICH STAR JIM
CARREY. THEN CHECK
HERE
YOUR ANSWERS.
1.
In this film Jim Carrey plays
the part of a lying lawyer who is forced to tell the
truth for 24 hours.
2.
This film was a comedy about a
vampire.
3.
This film was voted 'Favourite
Film' in the USA.
4.
In this film Carrey was a
detective who tracked down people's pets.
5.
In this film, the character
played by Carrey is the star of a soap opera.
6.
Carrey plays a character whose
conservative approach to life changes when he puts on
a magical mask.