The Mask (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Mask | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster |
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| Directed by | Chuck Russell |
| Produced by | Robert Engelman |
| Written by | Michael Fallon (story) Mark Verheiden (story) Mike Werb |
| Starring | Jim Carrey Cameron Diaz Peter Greene Richard Jeni Peter Riegert Amy Yasbeck Orestes Matacena |
| Music by | Randy Edelman |
| Cinematography | John R. Leonetti |
| Editing by | Arthur Coburn |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | July 29th, 1994 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Mask is an Oscar-nominated comedy film, based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. This film was directed by Chuck Russell, produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and originally released to movie theatres by 1994. The film stars Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss (also known as The Mask).
A sequel, Son of the Mask, was released in theaters in 2005 to box office failure and critical disapproval.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film centers around two men who live in Edge City: one of them is a banker named Stanley Ipkiss, a low-on-his-luck helpless romantic who is often bullied by his flat manager and the son of his bank manager; the other is a gangster named Dorian Tyrell, another low-on-his-luck man who plans to overthrow his boss Niko, and is planning to rob Edge City Bank (ironically, Stanley's bank) in order to gain enough money for him and his friends to ascend to the Mafia Top.
Caught in the middle of these two men's lives is a mysterious wooden mask. According to a somewhat half-hearted psychologist, it is a representation of Loki, the Norse god of mischief. This goes toward explaining why, if Stanley puts it on at night, he is transformed into an overenthusiastic figure clad in a yellow suit, with a green face and the ability to make almost anything happen. In one night, "The Mask" changes a balloon-toy into a working tommy gun with which he scatters some thieves; in another, he convinces the entire police department to dance with him, after they come to arrest him for stealing Dorian's target money. In addition, on seeing a lady (Tina Carlyle, Dorian's paramour) sing on stage, his heart can be seen leaping at her independently of the torso. At this, he leaps up, dances with Tina, and kisses her. Intrigued, she begins to court the Mask.
Dorian is jealous and arranges for the seizure of Stanley and of the Mask itself, and succeeds in doing so with the help of Peggy, Stanley's confidante. He puts the Mask on and is changed into a kind of green-faced troll (known by fans as Dorian Loki Tyrell), which sets out to overthrow Niko and become a tyrant. Stanley, Tina, and Stanley's dog Milo are all held prisoner. At a ballroom, Tina convinces Dorian to remove the Mask so that he can give her a kiss before killing her for what he perceives as untrue. Milo puts it on instead, becoming a cartoony green-headed bulldog as a result. He frees the humans and passes the mask to Stanley, who uses it to make Dorian vanish from the "real world". Later, Stanley and Tina, who is now his girlfriend, take the Mask to the ocean and throw it in, intending to live out their lives normally.
[edit] Cast
- Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask
- Peter Riegert as Lt. Mitch Kellaway
- Peter Greene as Dorian Tyrell/Dorian Loki Tyrell
- Cameron Diaz as Tina Carlyle
- Orestes Matacena as Niko
- Richard Jeni as Charlie Schumaker
- Amy Yasbeck as Peggy Brandt
- Ben Stein as Dr. Arthur Neuman
- Reginald E. Carthey as Freeze
- Denis Forest as Sweet Eddy
- Nancy Fish as Mrs. Peenman
[edit] Reaction
The movie was a box-office sucess, with over 350 million dollars worldwide[1]. Critics also liked the movie[2], including Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times which gave the film 3 stars, noting Carrey for his "joyful performance."[3].
[edit] Cultural and literary allusions
The Mask imitates the Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny (dying in the arms of the mobster) and Taz (spinning in a tornado), and the performance of him watching Tina in the Coco Bongo is similar to the wolf in Red Hot Riding Hood (which Stanley is seen watching in the movie).
The laugh performed by "The Mask" toward the end of the movie (after revealing his guns were loaded with nothing more than signs reading "Bang!"), is reminiscent of Carrey's Fire Marshal Bill character from In Living Color. At the end of the movie, "The Mask" performs a famous line by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry by saying "Now, you got to ask yourself one question. 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punks?". Ben Stein also appears in the movie as "Dr. Arthur Neuman," author of a book titled The Masks We Wear.
[edit] References
- ^ The Mask. Box Office Mojo.
- ^ The Mask reviews. Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (July 29th, 1994). The Mask. rogerebert.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.
[edit] External link
- The Mask at the Internet Movie Database
- [1] Clip from The Mask
