The Mask

The Mask is a 1994 American neo-noir superhero comedy film directed by Charles Russell, produced by Bob Engelman, and written by Mike Werb, loosely based on the Mask comics published by Dark Horse Comics. The first installment in the Mask franchise, it stars Jim Carrey, Peter Riegert, Peter Greene, Amy Yasbeck, Richard Jeni, and Cameron Diaz in her film debut. Carrey plays Stanley Ipkiss, a hapless bank clerk who finds a magical mask that transforms him into a mischievous troublemaker with superpowers, but who accidentally becomes targeted by the mafia when gangster Dorian Tyrell intends to use the mask to overthrow his boss.

The film was released on July 29, 1994, by New Line Cinema, becoming a critical and commercial success. The film grossed over $351 million on a $23 million budget, which made it the second most profitable film based on a comic up to that point, behind Superman (1978). It cemented Carrey's reputation as a dominant actor of the 1990s, and it established Diaz as a leading lady. Carrey was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role, and the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects but lost to Forrest Gump. A standalone sequel, Son of the Mask, was released in 2005.

Plot
Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey), an insecure bank clerk working at the local Edge City bank, is frequently ridiculed by everyone around him except for his co-worker and best friend Charlie Schumaker (Richard Jeni). Meanwhile, gangster Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene), owner of the Coco Bongo nightclub, plots to overthrow his boss Niko (Orestes Matacena) by robbing the bank. Tyrell sends his dazzling singer girlfriend Tina Carlyle (Cameron Diaz) into Stanley's bank to record its layout, in preparation for a robbery.

Stanley is attracted to Tina, and she seems to reciprocate. Charlie invites Stanley to a night at the Coco Bongo. After meeting Charlie outside the club, the bouncer, who is Charlie's friend, lets Charlie enter the club with two girls without acknowledging Stanley is with him. While attempting to cross the rope, to meet Stanley inside, the bouncer believes he is attempting to enter the club without his permission and throws him at the curb. After getting off the ground, his suit gets wet and he runs into Tina as his beat up loaner gets delivered from the valet. His faulty loaner car breaks down whilst driving home. Stanley looks over the harbor bridge in despair and thinks he found a dead body floating below the bridge, but he ends finding out that it's a wooden mask. Placing it on his face transforms him into a green-faced, zoot-suited trickster known as "The Mask", who is able to cartoonishly alter himself and his surroundings at will. As The Mask, Stanley indulges in a comical rampage through the city, humiliating several of his tormentors including the mechanics who gave him the faulty loaner car.

The next morning, Stanley encounters detective Lt. Mitch Kellaway (Peter Riegert) and newspaper reporter Peggy Brandt (Amy Yasbeck), both of whom are investigating The Mask's activity the previous night. To obtain the funds necessary to attend Tina's performance, he again dons the mask and raids the bank, inadvertently foiling Tyrell's plan in the process. He enters the club by with some of those funds despite not being on the attendee list. One of the gang members from the bank robbery dies at the club and Tyrell furiously asks who disrupted the robbery. One of his members points to The Mask outside their window as he is dancing with Tina. Towards the end of the dance performance, The Mask kisses Tina and Tyrell immediately shoots at The Mask ripping a piece of The Mask's tie off as he's holding Tina, which reverts back to Stanley's distinctive pajamas. The Mask comically flees as Tyrell and one of his boys attempts to shoot him. Tyrell and his men are then arrested by Kellaway and his partner Doyle (Jim Doughan) for the bank robbery. Kellaway finds the piece of Stanley's pajamas at the scene which further corroborates his theory that Stanley is The Mask.

The morning after, Kellaway knocks on Stanley's front door while he's sleeping. Stanley hides the mask, but opens his closet which stashes a large volume of cash, which he stashes back while Kellaway repeatedly knocks the door. After opening the front door, Kellaway questions him about the pajamas and asks to see them, to which Stanley lies on the spot about his pajamas being stolen, which Kellaway doesn't believe. As Stanley arrives to the bank being investigated, his boss scolds him for arriving late, but Stanley's newly discovered confidence allows him to fight back and threaten to turn him in for tax fraud. Tina comes back to the bank to see Stanley and ask him about The Mask. Stanley claims he's an old college friend of his and Tina asks if he can get him to meet her at the park. Stanley later consults a psychiatrist (Ben Stein) who has recently published a book on masks and discovers that the object may be a creation of Loki, the Norse god of night and mischief. The same night, Stanley meets Tina at a local park and runs into the bushes to come back as The Mask who recites romantic French dialogue. The meeting is interrupted by Kellaway, who attempts to capture him and searches his pockets, finding many random objects of varying sizes. As the Mask flees the scene, he locks the park door only to find a huge squad of police cars. Stanley flees with Peggy after distracting the police (and nearby civilians) with a mass performance of the Desi Arnaz song "Cuban Pete"; she then betrays him to Tyrell for a $50,000 bounty. Tyrell dons the mask, becoming a malevolent green-faced being. Tyrell's henchmen force Stanley to reveal the location of the stolen money. They break into Stanley's apartment and steal the money from his closet. Milo discovers Stanley from the apartment window inside a car and follows the car to chase after him. Kellaway exits the police building, expressing frustration after failing to capture The Mask and sarcastically suggests Stanley will fall right into his lap. Immediately, Stanley gets thrown out of the car by the gang members and falls into Kellaway with a decoy rubber mask prompting him to be arrested and be thrown into a jail cell.

When Tina visits Stanley in the station, he urges her to flee the city. Tina thanks Stanley for showing her kindness and warmth she wasn't used to and tells him he didn't need the mask to be special to her. She attempts to leave the city, but is captured by Tyrell's men and forcibly taken to a charity ball at the Coco Bongo, hosted by Niko and attended by the city's elite, including Mayor Tilton (Ivory Ocean). Upon arrival, the masked Tyrell kills Niko and prepares to destroy the club with a time bomb. Milo, Stanley's dog, jumps into Stanley's jail cell window and helps him escape from the station by retrieving the keys from the guard as he's sleeping and unlocks his jail cell. While attempting to grab the guard's gun, the guard wakes up but Stanley knocks him unconscious and takes the gun. Stanley then runs into Kellaway who he takes him hostage with the gun in a desperate attempt to stop Tyrell.

After locking Kellaway in his car, Stanley enters the club and manages to enlist the help of Charlie, but is soon after discovered and captured. Tina tricks Tyrell into taking off the mask to share a kiss as his real self. Tyrell gives in and goes for a kiss and Tina kicks the mask out of his hands, which is recovered and donned by Milo. Milo battles his way through Tyrell's men as Stanley fights him alone and manages to knock him out. After recovering the mask from Milo, Stanley uses its powers to rescue Tina by swallowing the bomb seconds before it detonates and then flushes Tyrell down the drain of the club's ornamental fountain. The police arrive and arrest Tyrell's henchmen. Kellaway attempts to arrest Stanley once again, but Tilton tells Kellaway and the police that Tyrell was The Mask the whole time as a way of releasing Stanley and Tilton then tells Kellaway and Doyle that he needs to have a serious meeting with them in his office at dawn.

As the sun rises the following day, all charges against Stanley are dropped. Realizing that the mask no longer worth the trouble to overcome his inhibitions, Stanley decides to return the mask back at the harbor. Tina throws the mask into the water as she and Stanley share a kiss. Charlie then jumps off the bridge and into the water to retrieve the mask for himself, only to find Milo swimming away with it. Stanley closes the movie by saying the Mask's catchphrase, "Smokin'."

Cast

 * Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss / The Mask: Carrey commented that he characterized Stanley after his own father: "a nice guy, just trying to get by". When Ipkiss puts on the Mask, he becomes a wacky, zoot-suited, suave cartoon figure with the superhuman ability to manipulate his own shape and the world around him; this is implied to be the projection of his preferred fantasies onto himself. Before Carrey was cast, Matthew Broderick, Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Martin Short, Keanu Reeves, Mike Myers and Robin Williams were all considered.
 * Max as Milo, Stanley Ipkiss's dog of Jack Russell Terrier breed.
 * Peter Greene as Dorian Tyrell: A Mafia officer who desires to kill his superior. He is insane, psychopathic, manipulative, ambitious, arrogant, paranoid and selfish with scant regard for those lives destroyed as a result of his ambition. When Tyrell wears the Mask, he becomes a troll-like figure (representing his malice) and exhibits bestial behavior. Before Greene was cast, Jack Nicholson, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper, Robert De Niro and Rupert Everett were all considered.
 * Cameron Diaz as Tina Carlyle: Tyrell's glamorous girlfriend who is also attracted to Stanley. Tina is dissatisfied with Tyrell as a partner but does not defy him until she has been courted by his rival. This role marked the feature-film debut for former model Cameron Diaz. Before Diaz was cast, the studio considered casting Vanessa Williams and Kristy Swanson. There was also a studio offer for Caprice Bourret and Anna Nicole Smith.
 * Orestes Matacena as Niko: The mafia boss of Edge City and owner of the Coco Bongo Club.
 * Peter Riegert as Lt. Mitch Kellaway: A slightly cynical police detective lieutenant who pursues the Mask, Tyrell, and Niko throughout the film.
 * Jim Doughan as Detective Doyle: Kellaway's slightly inept partner.
 * Richard Jeni as Charles "Charlie" Schumaker: A friend of Stanley. Charlie is amiable but can be selfish or irrational at times. Before Jeni was cast, Phil Hartman was considered.
 * Amy Yasbeck as Peggy Brandt: A reporter. Originally, the character was murdered by Tyrell when he is first transformed by the Mask, but Director Chuck Russell cut this scene with an eye to including a reformed Peggy in a Mask sequel (though this idea fell through when Carrey declined to return).[citation needed] The character appeared in the animated series.
 * Jeremy Roberts as Bobby the Bouncer: One of Tyrell's bodyguards who works as the bouncer of the Coco Bongo Club.
 * Ben Stein as Dr. Arthur Neuman: A psychologist who tells Ipkiss about the Mask being representative of Loki. He's also the author of the book, The Masks We Wear, which deals with people portraying themselves differently to others.
 * Ivory Ocean as Mitchell Tilton: The Mayor of Edge City.
 * Reginald E. Cathey as Freeze: One of Tyrell's bodyguards and a loyal friend of his.
 * William Daniel Mielcarek as Doc: One of Tyrell's thugs.
 * Denis Forest as Sweet Eddy: One of Tyrell's thugs.
 * Eamonn Roche as Mr. Dickey: Stanley and Charlie's supervisor at Edge City Bank.
 * Nancy Fish as Mrs Peenman: Stanley's temperamental landlady.
 * Nils Allen Stewart as Orlando: One of Tyrell's thugs.
 * Blake Clark as Murray: Peggy's supervisor at the city's local newspaper.