Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Blu-ray Review

All Righty Then (and Now)

Reviewed by Michael Reuben, August 30, 2013

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 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 the first time I saw it. Disguised as a UPS, excuse me, "HDS" deliveryman, our hero gleefully bangs, crashes, slams and drop-kicks a package prominently marked "Fragile" and "Glass" before delivering it to a dog-napper as a diversion, while he rescues the captive pooch. With joyful abandon, Carrey/Ace enacts the secret paranoia of everyone who's ever sent or received a UPS or FedEx package, and Shadyac lingers over the moment (and layers in horrifying sounds of shattering glass). Every good director lets the audience know what to expect at the outset, and 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 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. Note: In response to questions from several readers, I can confirm that the so-called "dolphin trainer" scene added to some prior video versions does not appear in this Blu-ray version. Nor did it appear in the theatrical release.