Here it is, folks: the movie that made "Jim Carrey" a household name overnight--"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." Although the movie's silly, crude, and often very childish, I still love the damn thing to death. It's a classic. Just one of those movies that you know's great but can't accurately describe why. Maybe because Jim Carrey's the only actor on earth who can pull Ace Ventura off without looking like a complete jackass. Yeah, I think that's it. Can you think of any other actor on earth who could bend over, talk through his rectum, and still manage being funny and make sense? That's what Carrey does here. Ace Ventura is obnoxious, but he makes sense and solves complex cases; he's no idiot. The plot's pretty good for a silly movie. Ace Ventura is hired by the beautiful Melissa Robinson (Courtney Cox) of the Miami Dolphins to retrieve their missing mascot dolphin--Snowflake.
This movie practically made Carrey a superstar overnight. (And even resulted in a funny but inferior sequel entitled--"Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.") Had this not been made, we'd of never experienced the hilarity of "Dumb and Dumber" or "The Mask." Jim Carrey's a comedic genius. I miss the Dumb and Dumber/Mask era, when Carrey was in his prime and never took himself or his audiences too seriously.
3 and a half stars