Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a cult 1994 American comedy/detective film
starring Jim Carrey.
He's the best there is. In fact, he's the only one there is! He's Ace
Ventura Pet Detective. Jim Carrey (The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Liar Liar) is on
the case to find the Miami Dolphins' missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino.
He goes eyeball to eyeball with a man-eating shark, stakes out the Miami
Dolphins and woos and wows the ladies. Whether he's undercover, under fire or
underwater, he always gets his man…or beast.
**Special Features:*
- Commentary by director Tom Shadyac
- 3 episodes of the animated series
- Theatrical trailer
“A riot from start to finish, Carrey's first feature comedy is as
cheerfully bawdy as it is idiotically inventive.” Washington Post
- Won ASCAP Award, Top Box Office Films 1995
- Won Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Favorite Actor – Comedy Jim
Carrey 1995
- Won Kids' Choice Awards USA, Favorite Movie Actor Jim Carrey, Nominated for
Kids' Choice Award Favorite Movie
- Won London Critics Circle Film Award, Newcomer of the Year Jim Carrey
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Review
“I still recall the scathing reviews that greeted Ace Ventura: Pet
Detective in February 1994. "The movie has the metabolism, logic and attention
span of a peevish 6-year-old”, said the New York Times. “An escaped mental
patient impersonating a game show host”, said Entertainment Weekly of Jim
Carrey's performance. (Actually, that sounds like something worth seeing.)
Even the late Roger Ebert, who was usually receptive to something new and
different, didn't get it: “I found the movie a long, unfunny slog through an
impenetrable plot.”
As Ace himself might say: “Lo-o-o-sers!”
Ace Ventura quickly became a box office hit, spawning a sequel and an
animated spinoff, and launching major careers for both director Tom Shadyac and
star Jim Carrey. Kids all over America adopted the pet detective's phrases and
mannerisms—and not just kids either. On his commentary track, Shadyac tells of
an encounter between his brother, an attorney, and a judge (yes, a judge), who
asked the lawyer whether he was related to the Shadyac who had directed Ace
Ventura. When the startled counsellor answered in the affirmative, His Honor
bent over in his robes and began talking out of his butt. Shadyac doesn't say,
but one can only hope this didn't occur in open court.
Carrey had appeared in previous films, but before Ace he was known
primarily as “the white guy” on the Fox series In Living Color. A much
smaller group of fans knew him from his standup work at comedy clubs at Los
Angeles, which is what inspired Shadyac during pre-production on Ace Ventura.
(Or, at least, that's Shadyac's version; accounts vary.) The film's script
had been through numerous drafts, but the character had consistently been
conceived in a semi-realistic style similar to Chevy Chase's Fletch. Rick
Moranis was initially attached to the project, but when Carrey was cast, both he
and Shadyac agreed that the story needed more energy. Finding the very notion of
a “pet detective” to be inherently silly, Shadyac suggested that Carrey go
wildly over the top, using a specific voice and demeanor from his
standup act.
From that point forward, the biggest technical challenge was for everyone
else to keep a straight face during takes. In Shadyac's commentary, he
confesses that he had to cut away from some scenes sooner than he would have
liked, simply because another actor cracked up during an inspired Carrey
improv.
Ace Ventura is so much about its title character's crazy behavior that
plot barely matters. But here goes: Someone has kidnapped Snowflake, the aquatic
mascot of the Miami Dolphins football team just before the Superbowl. Team owner
Riddle (Noble Willingham) tells his assistant, Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox,
before Friends made her famous), and coach Roger Podacter (Troy Evans) to do
whatever they can to find Snowflake, because athletes are superstitious. The
Miami police, led by the imperious Lt. Lois Einhorn (Sean Young), have no leads,
and a receptionist in the Dolphins' office tells Melissa about a “pet
detective” named Ace Ventura (Carrey), who helped find her
missing dog.
In venerable gumshoe tradition, Ace is mocked and despised by most of the
cops, especially Sgt. Aguado (John Capodice), but has one friend on the force,
Emilio (Tone Loc), who can be persuaded—or pressured—to share information
about the case. A clue overlooked by the authorities prompts Ace to focus on
everyone who might own a 1984 AFC Championship ring. This leads him to the
mysterious Ray Finkle, who dropped out of sight after missing a game-deciding
field goal. Find Finkle, and he'll find Snowflake (not to mention Dolphins
quarterback Dan Marino, playing himself, who has also disappeared).
That's an accurate plot summary (except that I'm guessing at the jobs
held by Melissa Robinson and Roger Podacter, because the movie doesn't bother
with such details). But none of it even hints at why Ace Ventura is memorable.
For that, you just have to watch the opening sequence, which, like many great
openings (think Goldfinger or Raiders of the Lost Ark) has nothing to do with
the plot, but it had me gasping for breath from laughter the first time I saw
it…Shadyac tells everyone up front that they're watching a live-action cartoon
character who has escaped into the real world and doesn't operate by
our rules.
And so it goes, as Ace catches a bullet in his teeth, survives a direct
encounter with a shark unharmed and takes blow after blow that would cripple a
normal person. His ability to communicate with animals of every species is as
flexible as his rubber face, and his deductive skills are as impressive as his
self-regard. Much of what happens in Ace Ventura is gratuitous as far as solving
the mystery is concerned; the extended visit to a mental hospital is a prime
example. Shadyac's principal in editing seems to have been to keep only those
scenes that were either crucial to the plot, such as it is, or got a belly laugh
in previews.
Having a live-action cartoon character as your hero turned out to be just
the right approach for a plot that is ultimately resolved by on a ludicrous
twist. (Those familiar with the film will know what I mean.) By the time the
culprit in the kidnappings of Snowflake and Marino is revealed, suspension of
disbelief is no longer an issue. After the talking butt, the tutu, the Mission
Impossible parody and the apartment menagerie trained to hide from the landlord
at the jingle of keys, anything is possible." 4/5 Blu-ray.com