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"THE MASK" (1994) (Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz) (PG-13) QUICK TAKE: Comedy: A mild-mannered bank employee who wants to be more than he is finds a mask in a river that taps into those desires. PLOT: Stanley Ipkiss (JIM CARREY) is a mild-mannered bank employee who loves cartoons and wants to be like the wolf in old Tex Avery shorts, but doesn't have the personality for it. He's a simple nice guy who is disappointed that women don't seem to go for his type. After being booted from the Coco Bongo, Edge City's most happening nightclub, Stanley's rental car breaks down on a bridge. Looking out at the water, he sees a mask floating, although he believes it's someone drowning. He goes right in, finds the mask, and eventually decides to try it on. When he does, he becomes a completely new man, one with more confidence, more vitality, and a lot more zaniness, just like the cartoons he watches. At the same time, through robbing a bank, he crosses paths with Dorian Tyrell (PETER GREENE), an ambitious criminal who wants to lord over Edge City and had dispatched his men to rob that same bank in order to make it happen. With him, though not happily, is Tina Carlyle (CAMERON DIAZ), whom Stanley first meets at his bank when she supposedly wants to open an account, and is the main entertainment for Tyrell's Coco Bongo Club. Tyrell's actions and Stanley, when he's the mask, eventually come to a head. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Jim Carrey fans who haven't yet seen this one will definitely want to, as well as those who perhaps know about those old Tex Avery cartoons featuring the wolf, and want to see its influence demonstrated here. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For some stylized violence. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: JIM CARREY plays Stanley Ipkiss, a mild-mannered bank employee who would like to be a wilder, confident type, but all he has as an outlet are the cartoons he watches on videotape. That is, until he finds a mask that changes his entire personality and in turn, leads him toward becoming the man he wants to be. He drinks, smokes, and makes sexual advances, though nearly all those actions are as The Mask. CAMERON DIAZ plays Tina Carlyle, whom Stanley meets when she walks into his bank, looking to open an account, but is actually there to film the bank through her pocketbook so her gangster boyfriend can use the tape to set up a nighttime bank robbery. However, she's not happy being with Tyrell, and soon becomes attracted to Stanley, first when he's The Mask and then when he's himself. PETER RIEGERT plays Lieutenant Kellaway of the Edge City police department, who sets out to find out who robbed the Edge City bank, and is soon convinced that Stanley was responsible. He's sarcastic toward a few people, and nasty at another. PETER GREENE plays Dorian Tyrell, an ambitious criminal who would like to be the one lording over Edge City's illegal activities, if not for Niko, the current crime boss. Niko calls him on his actions, with an unusually-placed tee and golf ball, then Dorian decides that in order to make this happen, more money is needed and he decides to send his men to rob the Edge City Bank. However, his men come up short as The Mask bursts out with sacks of cash, and he's determined to find out who The Mask is and eliminate him so he's no longer interrupted in his pursuit of power. He smokes a few times. RICHARD JENI plays Charlie Schumacher, Stanley's best friend and co-worker at the bank. AMY YASBECK plays Peggy Brandt, a reporter who's covering the antics of The Mask, who asks Stanley about what happened at the car mechanics' shop. She proves helpful to Stanley when he needs to escape from Kellaway and a set of cops behind him, but becomes very unhelpful later on. JIM DOUGHAN plays Detective Doyle, Kellaway's partner. NANCY FISH plays Mrs. Peenman, Stanley's vociferous, mean landlord. DENIS FOREST plays Sweet Eddy, one of Dorian's top men. REGINALD E. CATHEY plays Freeze, in charge of the bank robbery, who ends up in bad circumstances after it goes awry. ORESTES MATACENA plays Niko, the crime boss who is not pleased by Dorian's attempts to become more than he already is. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-13-rated comedy. Profanity consists of a few slang terms for male and female genitals, while other expletives and colorful phrases are spoken. Sexually-related dialogue, humor, and varying amounts of cleavage are also present. Violence consists of much gunfire and subsequent deaths, characters striking others in various ways, and numerous instances of slapstick material. Some of that has briefly bloody results, while some crude humor is also present. There is also lots of potentially dangerous imitative behavior. There are drinks consumed, while various characters smoke, including a cigar. Various bad attitudes are present as well. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, that occurs when the villain takes off the mask at the nightclub. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE We see a beer bottle on the rim of an air hockey table. A photo of Niko shows him holding a glass. Freeze drinks from a glass. Outside the Bongo Club, a song called "Straight Up" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra is heard on the soundtrack: "Hey bartender. I got a lover, but it's not what it seems. She poured me a drink, you know what I mean. Don't mix it up, give me straight…" We hear more of the song a little later: "Hey bartender, one more for good luck. Give me all that you got, I want my bourbon straight up." On the car mechanics' table, we see three empty beer bottles, one upside down in a coffee cup. A neon sign on a window seen before panning up to Stanley's apartment says, "Liquor, Free Delivery." A waitress carries drinks on a tray in the nightclub. We also see drinks on a few tables during Tina's number. One patron tries to finish his drink as others flee from the nightclub. We see bottles and glasses in the middle of a table in Dorian's office. One man there drinks from a glass before he gets up. Niko toasts a shot with a man and then drinks. A glass of wine shatters during the melee at the nightclub. We see a yellow drink on a roulette table as one of Dorian's men drags Stanley over to him. We see a martini glass with red liquid and a champagne flute filled slightly as a man tries to dive for the flying mask. Stanley, as The Mask, drinks from a glass and the liquid pours out of various holes in him from the gunfire. BLOOD/GORE We see blood on the right side of Dorian's mouth. Freeze is seen with blood around his middle and on his hand. While being held by a thug, Stanley, as The Mask, acts like he's dying, farts a little and then says to the man, "Pardon me." Tina hits a guy across the face with her pocketbook and runs off. We briefly see a line of blood on the man's face. Dorian breaks down double doors and barges into the nightclub. He orders his men to kill Niko, and both sides fire with automatic weapons and handguns. Four men are hit, blood seen on their white shirts as they go down. Eddy crawls on the floor, searching for Milo and then some liquid sprays on him from above. It's Milo, peeing on him, and we see the act for a few seconds. Dorian gets up, holding a knife, with a bruise around his right eye. We see a minor bruise on Stanley's left cheek and outside the nightclub, a cut is seen above his right eye. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Dorian Tyrell is an ambitious criminal in Edge City, who wants to take over dealings in the city from Niko, more powerful than him and more imposing, as he demonstrates when he calls on Dorian's attempted actions against him by way of an unusually placed tee and golf ball. He sets up a plan to rob a bank, which is thwarted by the newfound power Stanley derives from the mask he found floating in the river. In the context of the film, his evil goals are murky, but power seems to be what he wants most. He has a girlfriend, Tina, whom he mistreats verbally, and a set of men he orders about to do his business. After he discovers that Stanley is the one who has inadvertently put a crimp into his plans, he goes after him, as well as the mask when he discovers what it can do. Mrs. Peenman, Stanley's landlord, is nasty toward him about him being late getting home. After she closes the door to her apartment, Stanley fires back, "Aren't you due back at the laboratory to get your bolts tightened?" Stanley goes to the garage of two car mechanics to find out about the status of his car and one of the mechanics says that he needs a new transmission, and Stanley counters that all he sent the car in for was an oil change. One of the mechanics tells him that he's fortunate this problem was caught early, but based on his look toward Stanley and that the other mechanic comes up out of where the hood would be of another car, not knowing what a certain part is for, they're ripping him off. He needs a car for the evening, so they give him "the loaner," which is shabby-looking, broken down, and collapses completely on a bridge after Stanley has left the nightclub. Mrs. Peenman berates a police officer, saying to him, "Look at the floor! See that? He put that right in my floor, then he jumped out the window, officer. Are you writing notes?" In reaction to seeing the damage he caused in his apartment building as The Mask, Stanley says, "This is impossible." Lieutenant Kellaway replies, "Those pajamas are impossible. This actually happened." Peggy says to Lieutenant Kellaway that what happened to the mechanics, "looks like some sort of mob tactic." Kellaway replies sarcastically to the officers behind him, "There it is, boys. She broke the case." Stanley's boss, Mr. Dickey, says to him about his lateness, "Well if you weren't busy ogling girlie pictures, you might actually get some work done around here." Charlie says to Mr. Dickey about Tina, "Uh, Sir, she's a prospective client of Stanley's." Mr. Dickey replies, "Oh really?" looks at the photo of Tina in the newspaper, then says to Stanley, "Well, the next time she comes in, you be sure to send her to my office." Peggy asks Stanley, "Do you know how hard it is to find a decent man in this town? Most of them think monogamy is some kind of wood." Niko tells Dorian he has "one week to get out of town. After that, I'll use your empty little skull to break in my new nine-iron." As The Mask, Stanley breaks into a bank and breaks out with three sacks full of cash. He arrives at the club and flicks some of it out of his hands and the crowd grabs at the cash as it flutters down. Later, we see him on a bank surveillance tape run by Kellaway, stealing the cash. Eddy shouts at patrons while holding a gun, "Club's closed. Move it! You think I'm joking?! Come on! Move it!" Dorian tells Tina, "Get out of here. Get lost!" Kellaway says to Dorian, "Couple of your boys were spotted knocking over Edge City Bank. And one of them was wearing a big green mask." Dorian replies, "You know, for once, Kellaway, you're right. Except it wasn't one of my boys. Maybe if you tried a little actual police work---" Dorian asks Tina, "What are you looking at?" Tina replies, "You. You're losin' it, Dorian." Dorian replies, "Oh no, I'm not losin' anything---except maybe some extra baggage around here." Tina asks, "What is that supposed to mean?" Dorian replies, "You know, you weren't puttin' up much of a fight with that freakshow last night when he tried to kiss you." Tina answers, "Did it look like I had much of a choice?" Dorian replies, "Maybe you did…(he grabs a magazine out of her hands and throws it down)…maybe you didn't. Who knows, right? I'll tell you one thing! It's going to be payback for anybody who crosses me." Mr. Dickey begins to berate Stanley for being late and Stanley points a finger at him and exclaims, "Back off, monkey boy, before I tell your daddy you're running this place like it's your own personal piggy bank. Or maybe we should call the IRS, and see if we can arrange a little vacation for you at Club Fed!" Doyle finds a picture of Kellaway's wife in Stanley's pocket and Kellaway exclaims, "Margaret! You son of a bitch!" Stanley, as The Mask, says to him, "Jeez, I figured you had a sense of humor. After all, you married her!" Kellaway screams in anger and Stanley slaps both Kellaway and Doyle a few times. About Stanley's dancing, Doyle observes, "He's not bad," and Kellaway snaps, "Shut up and help me down." Doyle starts to dance, then Kellaway pulls him back and says, "You start dancing, I'll blow your brains out." Peggy turns Stanley over to Dorian for $50,000 and explains that she can't lose her condo. "You know how hard it is to find an apartment in this city." Seeing Stanley being led off to the newspaper printing press, Peggy exclaims to Dorian, "You said you wouldn't hurt him!" Dorian replies, "I lied." Eddy asks Dorian after his transformation with the mask, "Whoa, boss. You okay?" Dorian replies, "Better than ever, you idiot." Eddy points a gun at a tied-up Stanley in a car in front of his apartment building and says, "Money better be here, Ipkiss, or you can Ipkiss your ass goodbye." Dorian says to Tina, "Get out of my sight," and flicks her face away. Dorian's men order the patrons of the nightclub to "get down" and "line up." One of Dorian's men orders Mayor Tilton and Mrs. Peenman to step back. The mayor says to the man, "You don't know who you're talking to, do you?" The man replies, "I'm talking to a dead man if you don't step back like I said." Charlie walks into the club holding a gun and orders police officers around him to "arrest those men." They go into the club with their guns out and then Kellaway grabs the gun from Charlie, saying, "Gimme that gun." Mayor Tilton bumps into Kellaway, who says to him, "Watch it, Chunky," then notices his mistake. Mayor Tilton tells Kellaway about Stanley, "This young man here just saved our lives." Doyle steps toward Stanley, says, "Wow, you're a real hero," and extends his hand, but Kellaway exclaims, "Doyle!" and pulls him back. After Mayor Tilton tells Kellaway he wants to see him in his office in the morning, Doyle says, "Boy, that doesn't sound good at all." Kellaway replies sarcastically, "No, it doesn't sound good. What would sound good to you?" Doyle answers, "Breakfast," and Kellaway snaps, "Shut up!" FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Jump Scenes" and "Violence" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Shotguns/Machine guns/Tommy gun/Knife: Carried and used to threaten, intimidate, kill others and cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Two of Niko's men push Dorian onto the floor face up and one of them holds a gun to his head. One of them places a tee in his mouth, which he spits out and the other guy cocks his gun and points it at Dorian's head, and the first man puts the tee in his mouth again, and the ball on top. Freeze takes out a gun in the van. At the entrance to the bank, all the men hold guns. Eddy shouts to patrons while pointing a gun, "Club's closed. Move it! You think I'm joking?! Come on! Move it!" Dorian's other men also hold guns. Dorian points a gun at Stanley before firing at him. Kellaway comes into the nightclub behind Dorian with his gun out and shouts, "Drop it, Tyrell!" Kellaway holds a gun as he moves part of a bush aside to spy on at Stanley. A cop pulls a bazooka out of Stanley's pocket and Stanley, as The Mask, says, "I have a permit for that." Kellaway grabs a shotgun from an officer and fires it to end the dancing among the cops. Eddy cocks a gun as he corners Tina. Stanley reaches for the guard's gun, and pulls it out of the holster a bit, but the guard wakes up and grabs Stanley's arm. Stanley pulls away and hits the guard on the back of the head with the gun, knocking him out. Stanley then holds the gun on Kellaway. One of Dorian's thugs surreptitiously adjusts a gun in his holster. Kellaway says to Stanley about how empty the nightclub parking lot is, "Something's not kosher here." Stanley exclaims, "Exactly!", pointing a gun at him. Kellaway tells him to "watch it" and Stanley apologizes. A gun cocks behind Stanley and a male voice orders him to drop his gun. One of Dorian's men fires a machine gun at Stanley, the mask flying out of his hand and landing behind a bar. Stanley dives behind the bar as glasses and things shatter and break from the gunfire. One of Dorian's men keeps firing, along with two other men, then stops, one machine gun barrel smoking a little afterward. Three of Dorian's men reload their weapons and, after imitating Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan with the famous, "Do I feel lucky" speech, Stanley as The Mask pulls out two intricate weapons with missile launchers, bazookas, a machine gun, a cannon, etc. Stanley cocks the weapons and one small missile rises up amidst the other preparations. The three men run off, Stanley pulls the triggers, and flags squeak out that say "Bang." Stanley spins the weapons and puts them back behind him. Dorian gets up with a knife, a bruise around his right eye. Stanley paints a "Flush" handle on the palm tree. Dorian jumps into the indoor lake to try to get at Stanley, and Stanley pulls the handle, and Dorian goes down. Dorian's knife then flies up and falls back into the drain. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Kiss me my dear and I will reveal my croissant." "I will spread your paté," "I will dip my ladle in your vichyssoise," "Our love is like a red, red rose, and I am a little thorny," "Don't get your panties in a twist, would ya?" "Who/what the hell is this/are you doing here/are you doin'/are you?" "Ssssmokin'!" "It's party time! P-a-r-t---y? Because I gotta!" "Snooze," "Look ma, I'm road kill! Ha ha ha!" "Hold on to your lug nuts, it's tiiiiime for an overhaul!" "Stupid," "No way," "Hold on, sugar, Daddy's got a sweet tooth tonight!" "Somebody stop me!" "Can't make the scene if you don't have the green," "How do?" "Let's rock this joint!" "Son of a bitch!" "Get out of here." "Get lost!" "Merde!" "You son of a bitch!" "Aye aye aye!" "Olé!" "What a rush," "Daddy's gonna have to go kick some ass," "Bastard," "Crap," "Aw shucks!" "That's-a spicy meat-a-ball!" "Back off, monkey boy," "Jeez," "Get out of my sight," "Watch it, Chunky" and "Shut up!" All of Stanley's cartoonish actions as The Mask, such as his transformation, his laugh, dancing with police officers, time spent at the nightclub and various accents may be enticing to imitate. Conversely, when Dorian takes hold of the mask and uses it, one of his actions is particularly dangerous, when Niko fires eight bullets into him and he absorbs the bullets, then fires them back through his mouth. Distracted by Tina, Stanley accidentally puts a pen into a pencil sharpener. Dorian burns holes in the eyes of Niko's photograph with his cigarette. An alarm clock jumps out of Stanley's jacket pocket, jumps around, and laughs maniacally. Stanley takes out a large mallet and tries to get at it, smashing a hole in the floor, the wall, and then smashing the clock. Stanley honks a hood's nose, pulls his underwear over his head, and pushes him into a group of fellow thugs. Two of Niko's men push Dorian onto the floor face up and one of them holds a gun to his head. One of them places a tee in his mouth, which he spits out and the other guy cocks his gun and points it at Dorian's head, and the first man puts the tee in his mouth again, and the ball on top. Niko aims the driver and hits the ball. Dorian shouts from the pain. Stanley dives behind his couch for the mask. As The Mask, Stanley moves his bottom jaw back and forth and makes a cartoony sound. As The Mask, Stanley lets cash fly at the crowd outside the nightclub, and everyone grabs for the falling bills as he walks into the nightclub. Stanley takes a menu stiffly from a waitress at the nightclub. Watching Tina during her song at the nightclub, Stanley's mouth drops to the table in a cartoon fashion, his tongue flops out, and his eyes bug out. He kicks his feet up in reaction to Tina and howls like a wolf in a cartoon style, whistles, and hits himself on the head with a hammer. Stanley lifts Tina by her side, and spins her around above him. Not long after, he spins Tina around insanely fast, and throws her up in the air, then catches her after a few seconds. Stanley leans sideways and grips the stem of a rose in a vase with his teeth, pulling it out. Stanley moves his legs as if they were made of rubber. Dorian commands one of his men, "Ice this deadbeat!" The man fires at Stanley and he dodges the bullets. The man keeps firing and Stanley keeps ducking them as a bullfighter, a Russian, Elvis, and a cowboy. As a cowboy, the thug shoots the gun out of Stanley's hand, and then appears to be successful, shooting him in the stomach. Stanley gets dramatic about it, with a cowboy accent, a British one, and a Southern accent. He then coughs on the thug holding him, blows a raspberry, and farts a little, then says, "Pardon me." Stanley moves around strangely, trying to prove to the mask expert that the mask transforms him. After Tina knees him in the groin when he tries to come on to her, he says in a helium-type voice, "She is so coy." Stanley makes an oinking noise as he laughs. Stanley says to the cop on his left side searching through his pocket, "Little to the left. That's it," and shows pleasure over it. Stanley dances with a female cop, and she slaps him twice as part of the dance. Stanley jumps down onto the hood of a cop car and dances a bit. Charlie dives into the water from the bridge to get the mask. JUMP SCENES As Dorian's men stand outside the bank, one of the doors explodes and shatters, and Stanley spins outside. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful music occurs in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) At the Bongo Club, a song called "Straight Up" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra is heard on the soundtrack: "Hey bartender. I got a lover, but it's not what it seems. She poured me a drink, you know what I mean. Don't mix it up, give me straight…" We hear more of the song a little later: "Hey bartender, one more for good luck. Give me all that you got, I want my bourbon straight up." PROFANITY At least 2 slang terms using male genitals ("croissant" and "ladle") and 2 slang terms using female genitals ("paté" and "vichyssoise"), 8 hells, 2 asses, 2 S.O.B.s, 1 crap, 3 uses each of "Oh my God" and "God," and 1 use of "Oh, God." SEX/NUDITY Tina walks into the bank from the rain, showing significant leg. The camera pans up her leg, then to her, and she shows a heavy amount of cleavage in a tight red dress. After Charlie takes her jacket, he sniffs it with a noticeable amount of pleasure. She shows major cleavage throughout her conversation with Stanley, and at one point, he is seen looking down at her cleavage. We also see her cross her legs. One of the women with Charlie shows deep cleavage. Tina shows much cleavage after she gets out of a limo. As a carnival barker making balloon animals, Stanley mistakenly pulls out a used condom and says, "Sorry, wrong pocket." Stanley's boss, Mr. Dickey, says to him about his lateness, "Well if you weren't busy ogling girlie pictures, you might actually get some work done around here." Charlie says to Mr. Dickey about Tina, "Uh, sir, she's a prospective client of Stanley's." Mr. Dickey replies, "Oh really?" looks at the photo of Tina in the newspaper, then says, "Well, the next time she comes in, you be sure to send her to my office." Stanley dreams about being smooth toward Tina, who shows much cleavage again. After Stanley flicks a cigarette away, she walks over to him. He goes to kiss her, but she turns his head and begins licking him. Tina wears a very short outfit, showing lots of leg and cleavage during her number at the club. She leans against a male patron during the song, and runs a hand down her body against a palm tree during which we see her thigh. Various women show cleavage at the nightclub. We see most of Tina's behind as Stanley spins her around. As Stanley kisses Tina, her heels pop off. A thug shoots at Stanley, and Tina accidentally rips part of his tie as she falls to the floor when Stanley drops her. Her full leg can be seen during this. Doyle frisks Dorian and Dorian says to him, "Hey, easy junior, you're giving me a woody here." After Stanley stops Mr. Dickey from berating him by suddenly pointing out the financial criminal acts he's engaged in, Charlie says to him, "Genius. That was genius. Buddy, I have chills. God! What side of whose bed did you wake up on, man?" Tina shows a lot of cleavage as she talks to Stanley at Landfill Park. Also at the park, Stanley dips Tina and, in a French accent, says to her, "Kiss me my dear, and I will reveal my croissant. I will spread your paté. I will dip my ladle in your vichyssoise!" Tina knees him in the groin and runs off. The Mask stops her and says, "Our love is like a red, red rose, and I am a little thorny. Je t'adore. Je t'adore. Je te window. I don't care!" (This is as he tries to get on top of her.) Stanley then says to Tina, "Now, like Napoleon, I will divide and conquer," and tries to get to Tina, before he's stopped by an armed Kellaway who cocks his gun. Stanley says to the cop on his left side searching through his pocket, "Little to the left. That's it," and shows pleasure over it. Two women Stanley dances near wear short skirts. He then moves his rear in front of them and they reach for him before he jumps away. Tina shows a little bit of cleavage while visiting Stanley in jail. One leg of Tina's is seen as she runs. Tina shows a bit of cleavage as Dorian's men tie her to a palm tree. Dorian in the mask sticks out a snake tongue to kiss Tina, but she wants a kiss from "the real Dorian." Stanley and Tina kiss deeply on the bridge. SMOKING Dorian smokes seven times, and Stanley smokes three times, once in a dream, once as The Mask, and a cigar after leaving the nightclub. A statue of a cartoon wolf has a cigarette in its mouth. Dorian puts a cigarette in Freeze's mouth and lights it for him while saying, "Here you go, buddy. Suck on that." But the cigarette falls out of Freeze's mouth as his head falls backward, dead. Stanley puts a cigarette in his mouth as he tries to answer Dorian's question about where his money is. One man in Dorian's office holds a cigar. At the park, Stanley asks Tina, "Cigarette? No?" Tina begins to light a cigarette, but Dorian takes it away. At the nightclub, Charlie says to a cigarette girl, "I need a pack of cigarettes." She asks him which brand and he replies, "Ah, it doesn't matter, I don't smoke. But for you, I would shoot the Surgeon General." A man lights a cigar for Niko. TENSE FAMILY SCENES None. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The mask Stanley finds in the river makes its owner become what they are usually not. For Stanley, it's going from mild-mannered, low self esteem, to brazenly confident, living up every minute that he has the mask on. There's not much difference with Dorian, who puts on the mask and merely becomes a nastier version of himself. Stanley's low self-esteem. 1994 was the year Jim Carrey broke out big in the movies with this, "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," and "Dumb & Dumber," playing those characters as broadly as he could. VIOLENCE Some of the following is played for comedy: A big pipe comes loose underwater and falls on a diver. Bobby, the bouncer, grabs Stanley by his lapels for crossing the rope. Then Bobby and another man throw Stanley to the ground. Stanley kicks the bumper of the "loaner" car, which falls off and he falls down. Then the front falls off, then a door, and finally the whole car collapses. Stanley accidentally hits his nose with the Frisbee he pulls away from Milo. Lightning flashes and Stanley spins around as the mask takes over his head, knocking over things in his apartment. An alarm clock jumps out of Stanley's jacket pocket, jumps around, and laughs maniacally. Stanley takes out a large mallet and tries to get at it, smashing a hole in the floor, the wall, and then smashing the clock. Mrs. Peenman aims a shotgun at Stanley and begins firing. Stanley bounces around like a pinball, then jumps out a window. He then smacks into the ground, flattened, and peels himself up. Stanley honks a thug's nose, pulls his underwear over his head, and pushes him into a group of fellow thugs. Stanley makes a Tommy gun out of a black balloon and fires it at the fleeing hoods. One jumps into a dumpster which closes on him. Stanley spins into the car mechanics' shop, exclaiming, "Hold on to your lug nuts, it's tiiiiime for an overhaul!" He spins around, the wind of him blows around papers, and we hear some action and some screaming. Stanley trips on his coffee table. Two of Niko's men push Dorian onto the floor face up and one of them holds a gun to his head. One of them places a tee in his mouth, which he spits out and the other guy cocks his gun and points it at Dorian's head, and the first man puts the tee in his mouth again, and the ball on top. Niko aims the driver and hits the ball. Dorian shouts from the pain. Niko taps his driver against Dorian's head and Dorian shoves it away. Then, Niko's men grab Dorian and pull him up from the floor. Stanley dives behind the couch for the mask and we see lightning flash and various things fall over as The Mask spins. As Dorian's men stand outside the bank, one of the doors shatters and explodes, and Stanley spins outside. He holds three bags of cash. Freeze and another man shoot at the approaching police cars and the police return fire. Stanley kicks his feet up in reaction to Tina and howls like a wolf in a cartoon style, whistles, and hits himself on the head with a hammer. Dorian exclaims, "Son of a bitch!" and throws his cigarette lighter at a mirror, which shatters. He then grabs Eddy and demands to know who pulled the bank job. As Stanley kisses Tina, her heels pop off. A thug shoots at Stanley, and Tina accidentally rips part of his tie as she falls to the floor when Stanley drops her. Dorian commands one of his men, "Ice this deadbeat!" The man fires at Stanley and he dodges the bullets. The man keeps firing and Stanley keeps ducking them as a bullfighter, a Russian, Elvis, and a cowboy. As a cowboy, the thug shoots the gun out of Stanley's hand, and then appears to be successful, shooting him in the stomach. Dorian points a gun at Stanley and Stanley bounces around as Dorian and the other men fire at him. As The Mask, Stanley dips Tina and, in a French accent, says to her, "Kiss me my dear, and I will reveal my croissant. I will spread your pate. I will dip my ladle in your vichyssoise!" Tina knees him in the groin and runs off. Stanley falls to the ground after Kellaway tells him to "unfreeze" and ice shards fall off him. Doyle searches through one of Stanley's pockets and we hear a mousetrap snap on Doyle's fingers, which he pulls out. Doyle finds a picture of Kellaway's wife and Kellaway exclaims, "Margaret! You son of a bitch!" Stanley says to him, "Jeez, I figured you had a sense of humor. After all, you married her!" Kellaway screams in anger and Stanley slaps both Kellaway and Doyle a few times. Stanley dances with a female cop, and she slaps him twice as part of the dance. Lightning flashes as Stanley takes off the mask, and it stretches his face. Kellaway fires at Stanley as he flees. He commands the other cops to shoot and they do as well. One bullet ricochets and sparks off the back of the car the reporter drives. Two men tip Stanley above the printing press. One of the men in Dorian's car throws a tied-up Stanley at Lieutenant Kellaway as they drive by. Tina hits a guy across the face with her pocketbook and runs off. Dorian shoves Tina against a wall by the neck. Stanley reaches for the guard's gun, and pulls it out of the holster a bit, but the guard wakes up and grabs Stanley's arm. Stanley pulls away and hits the guard on the back of the head with the gun, knocking him out. Dorian breaks down double doors and barges into the nightclub. He orders his men to kill Niko, and both sides fire with automatic weapons and handguns. Four men are hit, blood seen on their white shirts as they go down. Niko knocks over a card table as a shield, and fires back a few times. After, Niko gets up and fires eight shots into Dorian. Dorian absorbs them and fires them from his mouth at Niko, the force of which throws him backwards, most likely killing him. One of Dorian's men hears a whistle, goes behind a wall, we hear a punch, a thud, and Stanley comes out with a handgun and the man's gun. Dorian orders his men to fire at the huge piggy bank full of cash and they fire their machine guns at it. There's debris and then it cracks fully open, cash raining down. Tina lifts a foot from behind tape tying her up and kicks the mask away from Dorian's hand. One man tries to grab at Milo, but lands hard on the floor. Dorian grabs Stanley, punches him, and he falls to the floor. Dorian takes Stanley off the floor by his shirt and punches him in the face. He then says to Stanley, "I'm gonna take you apart." Stanley replies, "Well I hope you can enjoy the victory with one friggin' eye!" and pokes Dorian in the eye. Dorian punches Stanley again and Stanley throws him off. Stanley runs for Dorian, grabs him by the midsection, and shoves him down on a roulette table which collapses as he does it. Stanley then punches Dorian across the face at least 28 times. He then says, "I'm winning," before Dorian punches him in the face and he falls to the floor. Dorian punches Stanley in the face again and Stanley is thrown at a slot machine. Dorian grabs Stanley by the back of his chair, pulls him back, and as Stanley screams, he throws a hard punch at Dorian's face, which propels him backward at a slot machine that goes off. Eddy grabs Milo's back legs and holds on, but Milo puts his face into the mask, and Eddy screams as Milo starts spinning fast. Eddy slowly backs away from Milo and as he grabs his machine gun, Milo roars at him and Eddy falls backward off-camera. Eddie fires his automatic weapon at Milo, who jumps off from where he's standing, a piece of which breaks off as he fires the gun. Milo runs behind one of Dorian's men and bites his rear, pulling back that section of his pants. Milo throws the man over the rope, with a piece of the pants left in his mouth after, and Milo guffaws. One of Dorian's men fires a machine gun at Stanley, the mask flying out of his hand and landing behind a bar. Stanley dives behind the bar as glasses and things shatter and break from the gunfire. One of Dorian's men keeps firing, along with two other men, then stops, one machine gun barrel smoking a little afterward. Stanley runs to where Tina is tied up, grabs the bomb, opens his mouth cartoonishly wide and swallows it. The bomb goes off and his stomach blows out and then back in. He breathes smoke out, burps fire, then exclaims, "That's-a spicy meat-a-ball!" Dorian gets up with a knife, a bruise around his right eye. Stanley paints a "flush" handle on the palm tree. Dorian jumps into the indoor lake to try to get at Stanley, and Stanley pulls the handle, and Dorian goes down. Dorian's knife then flies up and falls back into the drain. Reviewed off DVD / Posted November 19, 2010