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Jim Carrey's best movie.
In his earlier Pet Detective series Carrey raved on sheer unbridled exuberance; in the more recent Truman Show and Man On the Moon he's got the budget and creative team to experiment with a broader vision and substance.
In between his early career and his latest efforts lies The Mask, which simultaneously uncorks Carrey's frenetic youthful energy, while offering an adequate budget to provide the sets, costumes and special effects to pull the whole thing off.
In The Mask, Carrey is a notably indistinguishable bank teller living a notably indistinguishable life, until he stumbles across an ancient African mask with the potent ability to magnify the wearer's latent character attributes a hundredfold, in addition to bestowing various superpowers like invincibility, mercurial speed, and whatever else your average Looney Tunes character might possess. In essence, ya turn into a big, real-life cartoon.
Needless to say, this Masked Man's confident insouciance is more than a little attractive to the ladies, and soon Carrey's new buddy (Cameron Diaz) is longing to meet Carrey's special wacky friend. Only thing is, she's the moll of the local gangster, who also wants to find and possess this powerful mask.
The cops, the gangsters and Diaz are all chasing after Carrey, while he's working overtime trying to get his life and his alter ego's escapades under control. The whole pastiche culminates in a hysterical, superbly-directed finale in a casino, as the magical mask passes from the gangster, to Carrey's dog, and finally back to our hero.
The special effects are absolutely superb, contributing much to the frenetic quality of the story (e.g., watch the dog's eyes bug out as the mask is removed). But Carrey's high-energy comedy timing ultimately breathes the life, and the heart, into this entertaining, high-octane fantasy romp.