Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Directed by Tom Shadyac. Starring Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc, Troy Evans, Dan Marino, John Capodice, Noble Willingham, Udo Kier, David Margulies, Raynor Scheine. [PG-13]

First major film vehicle for rising star Carrey was built around his energetic, rubber-faced talents, and if effort alone dictated quality, it would be a masterpiece. Story of a Miami-based “pet detective” hired by the NFL Dolphins franchise to help locate their kidnapped aquatic mascot is a flimsy one, but it allows Carrey more than enough opportunities to go wild with the mugging (there’s no logic behind his nonsensical, frequently bawdy outbursts, and they run the gamut from hysterical to obnoxious). His love for animals is infectious, but there are an awful lot of dead stretches, and the overblown transphobic elements are pushed well beyond the limits of a hey-it-was-a-different-time defense strategy. What else needs to be said about a movie that gives a small but critical role to quarterback Dan Marino? Just this: at least he’s better onscreen than Brett Favre would be in There’s Something About Mary. Inspired a sequel (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls), an animated television series, and a stand-alone direct-to-video spinoff (Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective).

48/100