Review of Dark Crimes (2016) by Wayne K — 05 Jun 2018

Jim Carrey makes a return to the big screen in a movie that suggests the filmmakers never once looked at the actor's resume. Carrey is, at his worst, a gurning, hyperactive idiot that chews scenery like he hasn't eaten for weeks.

But when sufficiently reigned in, his comic energy and physical aptitude are mesmerising. He's done dramatic work before, most notably in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. In that he gave a retrained performance that still allowed him to use his gift for humour to add levity to the proceedings.

In Dark Crimes he gives his most underpowered performance ever. The film is set in that magical region of Poland where everybody speaks perfect English and only has the faintest of accents. The premise is inherently fascinating, but it quickly losing its edge when you realise it's a blatant rip off of Basic Instinct.

Carrey wanders through Europe's greyest cityscapes, trying to catch a killer while attempting to set the record for fewest words uttered in a motion picture. At first I couldn't work out what kind of accent he was doing, or if he was just doing his regular voice with subtle inflections.

But after a short time I came to realise that even he probably didn't know what he was doing. The movie drags itself from dull plot point to boring exchange of dialogue, all culminating in one of the most head-scratching endings in recent memory.

It's a very inauspicious comeback from Mr. Carrey, an actor I've frequently enjoyed over the last few decades, and I just hope he manages to find a film more befitting of his skills in the near future.