Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) starring Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc, Dan Marino, Noble Willingham, Troy Evans directed by Tom Shadyac Movie Review

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Carrey's Pet Dick

Frankly all that "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" is is a vehicle to showcase the talents of Jim Carrey. But it is a clever movie because in the midst of a lot of comedy it gave us catchphrases, a lot of catchphrases which not only became often repeated but also when now uttered immediately bring back memories. It is because of those comedic catchphrases that "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" ends up memorable, well that and because for just short of 90 minutes we have Jim Carrey off the hook, throwing one gag after another at us which to be honest isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Quackers pet detective Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey - Pink Cadillac) finds himself with the biggest case of his life when Snowflake, the dolphin mascot of the Miami Dolphins, is kidnapped. Discovering a single gemstone in the tank Ace with the help of Dolphins' public relations officer Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox - Cocoon: The Return) set about tracking down the missing mascot. But along the way the path leads to former kicker Ray Finkle who blames Dan Marino for missing an important Super bowl kick to win the game.

Courteney Cox as Melissa Robinson in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

I'll lay my cards on the table, when I watched "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" when it first came out I loved the constant craziness of Jim Carrey and found the comedy take on "The Crying Game" both repulsive and hilarious. Yet watching it now I find myself strangely disappointed as it is not as funny as I remembered it and the almost neediness of Carrey to make every second of the movie a gag is now annoying. Oh I still get those smile moments when suddenly a catchphrase appears or something triggers a memory of a funny scene but it strangely ends up a case of too much comedy.

The good thing is that whilst Carrey's determination to make everything funny is now annoying the actual basic storyline still is humorous. For those who are yet to experience "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" may not get what is so funny about it if they haven't already watched "The Crying Game" but with the knowledge of what is coming in the back of your head it still keeps you entertained. And as I said it is clever because whilst there is still too much humour the use of catchphrases is genius because it instantly makes you remember a scene even now almost 20 years after it released.

Now in fairness "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" was Jim Carrey's vehicle and his chance to unleash his brand of face contorting, arm waving, actor mimicking and generally quackers humour on everyone and as I said back in 1994 as a young twenty something I enjoyed it. In fact I reckon if I was still that age I would still enjoy the utter daftness of watching Ace be it masquerading as a delivery boy or returning from a toilet having done battle with a shark. But as mentioned it does feel like Carrey is trying too hard and it almost feels like he must have been mainlining energy drinks as he bounds around every scene like a supercharged bunny. It means that whilst alongside Carrey there is Courteney Cox, Sean Young and Dan Marino they are more in the background, overshadowed by Carrey's continual comedic contortions.

What this all boils down to is that "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" is still an entertaining movie thanks to the clever use of catchphrases to generate fond memories. But sadly it now feels like an onslaught with Jim Carrey trying to make every second he is on screen funny from big gags to facial ticks.


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