Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Directed by Tom ShadyacTo be a Pet Detective, you have to understand both the criminals and animals. Ace Ventura goes even further... He behaves like a criminal animal. When a football team's mascot (a dolphin) is stolen just before the Superbowl, Ace Ventura is put on the case. Now, who would want to steal a dolphin, and why?
Where to Watch Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Cast of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Ratings & Reviews
- Daniel GustavssonOctober 13, 2024Crazy movie with Jim Carrey at his best. Some of the things in this would never happen in a movie today.
- Razorbitz7d agoDid not live up to how I remembered it. Watched it with my partner who loves Jim Carrey but had never seen either Pet Detectives and we came away mixed. There are certainly some great bits strewn throughout with pretty much anything involving his apartment animal group being the standout, but the actual moment to moment humor is left in this awkward lurch of forced, annoying gonzo that lands only some of the time. Most of our sparse laughter was in the middle but the beginning and ending failed to get much out of me except second hand embarrassment. I also had forgotten just how steeped in Miami Dolphins lore this film is; while the numerous dated references on occassion landed for us (A fun pre-reboot Mission: Impossible joke here, a Poltergeist reference there) the Dolphins mystery that Ace gets involved in at points has some fairly compelling moments. Written as a parody of the hard boiled detective tales of that era I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the actual mystery and the parodic infiltration of the rich and powerful. In that sense I found Ace Ventura at his best as a detective solving things in the most obnoxious ways possible while showing a base level competence that kept the plot moving. Unfortunately the ending suffers from the most dated sequence of elements I've ever seen, revolving around Dan Marino's kidnapping and the "twist" villain that left a bad taste in my mouth--just as it seemed to have caused for everyone else in the film, for different reasons. I guess I won't spoil it but the sentiment of "tHEy dOn'T mAkE COmedY's LikE tHey uSeD tO" isn't always a good thing, and this is one of those endings that have a lot of creative ideas that I genuinely thought would go for something more cartoonish (see: the rest of the movie) like yanking the mask off and revealing a completely different person--that I was on board for--instead of the very overdone tropey conclusion that we got. It plays out like a Scooby Doo moment GONE WRONG GONE SEXUAL with the entire On a personal note, as much as I try to go back to this era of comedy, I really can't seem to click with it as much as my 13 year old self. Whenever Jim Carrey talks with his butt or shouts a famous line from some popular film, I would feel my age more than laughter in my chest. I guess that's just me though. I would say we still overall enjoyed the film and can look past a lot of the more dated and obnoxious elements, but depending on how much nostalgia you might have I would say your mileage will vary. It's hard to believe this and The Mask came out the same year, and in that way Ace Ventura is a great companion piece to emphasize just how dominant Carrey was in the 90s. A decent Carrey vehicle in all but I doubt I will be watching this again any time soon.
- Richard ThorntonJuly 22, 2025A movie that can only work with Jim Carey as the lead. Its ending is considered distasteful by today’s pearl clutching folks, which makes me like it all the more.
- Michael Brandon MusicMarch 27, 2025A comedy classic
- wf625June 30, 2025I don’t think it’s Jim Carrey‘s best or most funniest. I still enjoy the joke though and I like the story. This will always be one of my favorite movies.
- GypsyGirl2023June 18, 2025I love the sequel and I LOVE Jim Carrey, but the first one is still better.
- DdoughnutJune 15, 2025My homie Snowflake did nothing wrong though
- 匚卂尺ㄥJanuary 31, 2025🕵🏻♂️🦜🦎🐾🦝🐢🐇🐕 I remember loving this film as a kid and into my teenager years. The craziness, the toilet humour, the sexual innuendo - everything a teenager could want! But truth be told, my appreciation of Jim Carrey has wained over the years. Maybe I'm more mature, maybe I've seen funnier actors I don't know... But I saw a double Blu-ray set with When Nature Calls recently so thought I'd give it a go. The film isn't as crazy as I remember which is actually a good thing - it was still absurd but it was smartly done and the craziness was second to the story. One of my favourite scenes was the shark tank, where Carrey as Ventura thinks he has found the kidnapped dolphin but instead tangles with a shark. It's funny but also a bit of a fright. Final Verdict: A perfect vehicle to showcase Carrey's talents. It's not my favourite Carrey film but it's enjoyable and has some smart jokes and a decent amount of mystery. The actual laughs arn't as big as what you will find in the sequel but overall it's a better film
- Pissed Off PapaMay 17, 2025A great movie, this is before Jim Carrey goes overboard on later movies.
- RyezooFebruary 15, 2025Not for me. I visually see what Jim Carey is bringing to the table and it's a storm of comedic talent. At the end of the day though I'm only laughing at about 40% of it. The shark scene was great though and loved the scenes in his apartment.
