Rate Jim Carey as a Dramatic Actor

[Alan2099]

On a side, I suppose this warrants a thread about actors who basically play themselves in everything, good or bad.

An actor just playing the same role isn't always a bad thing either. If you want to watch a Schwarzenegger movie, you want to watch him be Schwarzenegger.

[Kieran_Frost]

An actor just playing the same role isn't always a bad thing either. If you want to watch a Schwarzenegger movie, you want to watch him be Schwarzenegger.

And credit to Schwarzeneggar, he had good comic timing. It's what elevated him above the other body builder action stars, he could actually deliver a well timed bit of light relief (which is gorgeous to have in action films).

Hah, very much disagree, but to each their own.

I had to actually google to make sure I got it right, and not mixing her up with Emily Watson. And I wasn't. I mean... is she a good model, yes. But her basic line delivery is so... false. It's amazing she still gets hired. Her work in "My Weekend With Marilyn" was ruinous to those scenes. She torpedoed every scene she was in, and her Belle... yeeesh! I mean I am genuinely curious why you very much disagree? What about her impresses? THANK GOD she was fired from "La La Land".

Yeah. Acting schools have different disciplines and teachers for this very reason -- part of those skill sets include how you draw out the authentic humor or drama in a scene (especially if the scene is fundamentally the opposite -- that is, finding humanistic humor in a tragic scene, or finding a dramatic foil in a comic scene). It's good to have an actor who can do both, of course, and there are certainly skills from one that can improve the other. But exceptional actors are the ones who can do both equally well, and that's a rarity. Specializing in one or the other is not a limitation, either.

I can only think of a few who are truly masters of both. Maggie Smith is one, she can deliver comedic lines effortlessly, do farce, be a fool... and then gut punch you with tragedy. She's a wizard of acting. Whoopi Goldberg can do both brilliantly. I'd say Robin Williams falls into this too; though his best dramatic roles do also rely on comedy, so maybe not.

And dramatic improv is virtually an institution in comparison to its better-known sibling regular (or comedic) improv.

Let's just all bow down to Mike Leigh while we can. "Secrets and Lies" (1995) is a masterpiece!

[Zauriel]

Jim Carrey made some good films like the Mask, Ace Ventura, and Batman Forever. But the Truman Show was certainly his best movie.