10 Actors Who Just Aren't Trying Hard Enough

8. Jim Carrey

Career High: The Truman Show Career Low: Earth Girls Are Easy Jim Carrey is a story of frustration: it isn't that he is making particularly bad movies - in fact his comedies still tend to draw reasonable crowds at the cinema - it's that he occasionally shows so much promise and talent in the roles in which he clearly pushes himself, or takes gambles with the material. He may have made a reputation as a rubber-faced impressionist and fool in early performances, and cemented his position in high-energy, lunatic roles like Ace Ventura but he really showed his ability in The Mask In Man In The Moon, The Majestic and The Truman Show. As is often the surprising case with comedians, Carrey is excellent in straighter roles, handling pathos with aplomb and carrying over the likability factor built with audiences in more humorous roles - and while his turn in The Number 23 was less than loved, it is a travesty that he prefers to attach himself to unchallenging fare like Mr Poppers Penguins. There is some hope that his association with Kick Ass 2 might have a similar effect as the original did for Nic Cage, but Cage pretty much proved that you can't gift wrap a career revival and expect actors to make the right choices next.
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

WhatCulture's former COO, veteran writer and editor.