fbpx
Wikipedia

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 American comedy film starring Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura, an animal detective who is tasked with finding the abducted dolphin mascot of the Miami Dolphins football team. The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, who wrote the screenplay with Jack Bernstein and Jim Carrey. The film co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, Sean Young, and then-Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino and features a cameo appearance from death metal band Cannibal Corpse.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTom Shadyac
Screenplay by
Story byJack Bernstein
Produced byJames G. Robinson
Starring
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited byDon Zimmerman
Music byIra Newborn
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • February 4, 1994 (1994-02-04)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[1]
Box office$107.2 million[1]

Morgan Creek Productions produced the film on a budget of $15 million, and Warner Bros. released the film in February 1994. It grossed $72.2 million in the United States and Canada and $35 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $107.2 million. It received mixed reviews from critics. Carrey's performance led to the film having a cult following among male adolescents. In addition to launching Carrey's film career, it also started a franchise, spawning the sequel film Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), the animated television series Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (three seasons, 1995–2000), and later, standalone made-for-television sequel Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009).

Plot

Ace Ventura is an unorthodox Miami-based private detective who specializes in retrieving tame or captive animals. He struggles to pay his rent and is often mocked by the Miami Police Department, led by Lieutenant Lois Einhorn, who finds Ventura insufferable. Two weeks before the Super Bowl, the Miami Dolphins' mascot, a bottlenose dolphin named Snowflake, is kidnapped at Joe Robbie Stadium. Melissa Robinson, the team's chief publicist, hires Ventura to find Snowflake.

Searching Snowflake's tank for clues, Ventura finds a rare triangle-cut orange amber stone in the filter. Ace suspects billionaire Ronald Camp may have stolen Snowflake, as he is known for collecting exotic animals through less-than-reputable means and sources. Ventura and Melissa sneak into Camp's party, where Ventura mistakes a shark for Snowflake and is nearly eaten. Camp apologizes and shakes Ventura's hand, revealing on one of his own fingers a ring with an amber stone set identical to the one Ventura found. Ruling out Camp, as his ring was not missing the amber stone, Ventura recognizes the stone as part of a 1984 AFC Championship ring and concludes that a member of the 1984 Miami Dolphins line-up may have kidnapped Snowflake, and attempts to identify the culprit by their rings. However, he discovers all of the team members' rings are intact.

Roger Podacter, the team's head of operations, mysteriously dies after falling from his apartment balcony. Einhorn declares it a suicide, but Ventura proves that it was murder because the soundproof balcony glass doors were closed when the police arrived despite a neighbor claiming to have heard screaming. He comes across an old photograph of the football team, discovering an unfamiliar player named Ray Finkle, who was added as a placekicker in mid-season. Finkle missed a relatively easy field-goal kick at the end of Super Bowl XVII, which cost the Dolphins the championship and ruined his career. Visiting Finkle's parents, Ventura learns that Finkle blamed quarterback Dan Marino for allegedly mishandling the ball before the kick, and became so fixated on this that he was committed to a mental hospital for homicidal tendencies. Marino himself is kidnapped shortly thereafter. Ventura visits Einhorn, pitching his theory that Finkle kidnapped both Marino and Snowflake in an act of revenge, as he was offended that the dolphin has been given Finkle's old team number and a field-goal trick to boot; he also theorizes that Finkle murdered Podacter when the latter discovered him snooping around his apartment. Einhorn compliments Ventura and kisses him before attempting to dissuade him from continuing the case since there is now a suspect, but Ventura refuses since he is still under contract by the Dolphins to locate Snowflake.

Ventura and Melissa go to the mental hospital, where Ventura poses as a potential patient. Ventura uncovers a newspaper article in Finkle's possessions about a missing hiker named Lois Einhorn. Piecing together the evidence, Ventura, to his shock and disgust, realizes that Einhorn is Finkle: Finkle underwent plastic surgery to take on the identity of the missing Einhorn, and took advantage of her position in the Miami Police Department to get revenge on Marino and the Dolphins. On Super Bowl Sunday, Ventura follows Einhorn to an abandoned yacht storage facility where she has Marino and Snowflake held hostage. Einhorn calls the police, blaming Ventura with no proof. Melissa and Ventura's friend, police officer Emilio, suspecting the deception, stage a hostage situation to get the police to listen to Ventura. To prove Einhorn is Finkle, Ace strips her of her clothes and, with help from Marino, reveals that Einhorn never got the penectomy and vaginoplasty necessary to perfect the disguise; Podacter discovered this during a date with Einhorn and was pushed off the balcony to stop him from revealing this to the public.

Einhorn/Finkle is arrested by the police after attacking Ventura, and her ring is confirmed to have the stone missing. Marino and Snowflake are welcomed back during half-time at the Super Bowl; Ventura is then shown on the stadium's jumbotron and acknowledged as their savior, even as he gets into a scuffle with the Philadelphia Eagles' mascot Swoop over a rare pigeon, receiving a large ovation from the crowd.

Cast

Production

The Chairman and CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, James G. Robinson, sought in the early 1990s to produce a comedy that would have wide appeal. Gag writer Tom Shadyac pitched a rewrite of the script to Robinson and was hired as director for what was his directorial debut.[2] Filmmakers first approached Rick Moranis to play Ace Ventura, but Moranis declined the role.[3] They then considered casting Judd Nelson or Alan Rickman, and they also considered changing Ace Ventura to be female and casting Whoopi Goldberg as the pet detective. David Alan Grier also turned down to play Ace Ventura.[4] Ultimately the producers noticed Jim Carrey's performance in the sketch comedy show In Living Color and cast him as Ace Ventura.[5] Lauren Holly turned down the role of Melissa Robinson, which eventually went to Courteney Cox.[6]

Carrey helped rewrite the script, and filmmakers allowed him to improvise on set. Carrey said of his approach, "I knew this movie was going to either be something that people really went for, or it was going to ruin me completely. From the beginning of my involvement, I said that the character had to be rock 'n' roll. He had to be the 007 of pet detectives. I wanted to be unstoppably ridiculous, and they let me go wild." He said he sought comedic moments that would be unappealing to some: "I wanted to keep the action unreal and over the top. When it came time to do my reaction to kissing a man, I wanted it to be the biggest, most obnoxious, homophobic reaction ever recorded. It's so ridiculous it can't be taken seriously--even though it guarantees that somebody's going to be offended."[2]

Filming took place in Miami, Florida in the second quarter of 1993.[7] The film was produced on a budget of $15 million.[1]

Music

The film score was composed by Ira Newborn. The soundtrack, produced by Morgan Creek Records, included a variety of songs by other musicians.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Power of Suggestion"Steve Stevens and Perry McCarty4:38
2."All Ace's"Ira Newborn2:41
3."The Lion Sleeps Tonight"Robert John2:35
4."Psychoville - Ace Race"Ira Newborn4:38
5."Theme from Mission: Impossible"Lalo Schifrin0:54
6."Ace of Hearts"Ira Newborn4:04
7."Hammer Smashed Face"Cannibal Corpse4:05
8."Line Up"Aerosmith4:14
9."The Crying Game"Boy George3:21
10."Warehouse"Ira Newborn5:05
11."Finkle & Einhorn"Ira Newborn2:36
12."Ace in the Hole"Ira Newborn1:54
13."Ace Is in the House"Tone Loc and Jim Carrey4:34

Release

Warner Bros. released Ace Ventura: Pet Detective in 1,750 theaters in the United States and Canada on February 4, 1994. The film grossed $12.1 million on its opening weekend, ranking first at the box office and outperforming other new releases My Father the Hero and I'll Do Anything.[1] Opening-weekend audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on a scale of A to F.[8] For its second weekend, it grossed $9.7 million and ranked first at the box office again,[9] outperforming newcomers The Getaway, Blank Check, and My Girl 2.[1] Variety reported of Ace Ventura's second weekend in box office performance: "The goofball comedy defied dire predictions by trackers, slipping just 20% for a three-day average of $5,075 and $24.6 million in 10 days."[9] The Los Angeles Times reported: "Audiences are responding enthusiastically to Carrey's frenzied antics... [The film] is especially a hit with the 10- to 20-year-old age group it was originally targeted for. Box-office grosses indicate that many fans are going back to see the film again."[2] It grossed $72.2 million in the United States and Canada and $35 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $107.2 million.[1] The film's US box office performance led Variety to label it a "sleeper hit".[10] Its best performance overseas was in Italy.[11] On home video, Ace Ventura sold 4.2 million home videos in its first three weeks, which Los Angeles Times called "just as powerful a draw" as its theatrical run.[12]

Carrey also starred in The Mask and Dumb and Dumber later in the year. The three films had a total box office gross of $550 million, which ranked Carrey as the second highest-grossing box office star in 1994, behind Tom Hanks.[13]

The Hollywood Reporter said before Ace Ventura, Jim Carrey was "seen mainly as TV talent" and that with the film's success, it "firmly [established] him as a big-screen presence". The film's success also led Morgan Creek Productions to produce the 1995 sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls with Carrey reprising his role.[14] Author Victoria Flanagan wrote that Carrey's performance "generated cult success for the film among adolescent male viewers".[15] The Hollywood Reporter wrote that it "gained a loyal cult following through frequent TV airings".[16] NME wrote in retrospect that the film was a "cult 1990s comedy".[17]

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was released on VHS on June 14, 1994, DVD on August 26, 1997, and Blu-ray on September 3, 2013 by Warner Home Video. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray for the 25th Anniversary Edition in April 2019.[18][19]

Critical reception

The Los Angeles Times reported at the time, "Not many critics have been charmed by Ace Ventura's exploits, and several have charged that the film's humor is mean-spirited, needlessly raunchy and homophobic."[2] A biography on Carrey wrote that "the fans loved him and the critics hated him".[7] Ace Ventura: Pet Detective received "generally unfavorable" reviews from contemporary critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic, which assessed 14 reviews and categorized six as negative, five as positive, and three as mixed. It gave the film an overall score of 37 out of 100.[20] The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes assessed a sample of 62 contemporary and retrospective reviews as positive or negative and said 48% of the critics gave positive reviews with an average rating of 5/10. In 2019, Rotten Tomatoes wrote of the consensus, "Jim Carrey's twitchy antics and gross-out humor are on full, bombastic display in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which is great news for fans of his particular brand of comedy but likely unsatisfying for anyone else."[21]

Roger Ebert, reviewing for the Chicago Sun-Times, said, "I found the movie a long, unfunny slog through an impenetrable plot." Ebert described the lead role, "Carrey plays Ace as if he's being clocked on an Energy-O-Meter, and paid by the calories expended. He's a hyper goon who likes to screw his mouth into strange shapes while playing variations on the language."[22] Steve Gaydos of Variety praised Carrey's "ceaseless energy and peculiar talents" but reported, "Film sputters and eventually slows to a trot due to the script's inability to give Carrey anything more than a free rein to mug and strut, and a third-act payoff that takes the film's generally inoffensive tastelessness into a particularly brutal and unpleasant stew of homophobia and misogyny."[23] The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden said, "The comic actor Jim Carrey gives one of the most hyperactive performances ever brought to the screen... Only a child could love Mr. Carrey's character, but that may be the point. The movie has the metabolism, logic and attention span of a peevish 6-year-old." He said of Ace Ventura's animals, "The few scenes of Ace communicating with his animals hint at an endearing wackiness that is abruptly undercut by the movie's ridiculous plot."[24]

The Washington Post's film critics Rita Kempley and Desson Howe reviewed the film positively.[25][26] Kempley said, "A riot from start to finish, Carrey's first feature comedy is as cheerfully bawdy as it is idiotically inventive." She added, "A spoof of detective movies, the story touches all the bases."[25] Howe said that the film "is a mindless stretch of nonsense" and highlighted multiple "Carreyisms along the way". Howe concluded, "There are some unfortunate elements that were unnecessary -- a big strain of homophobic jokes for one, profane and sexual situations that rule out the kiddie audience for another. But essentially, Ace is an unsophisticated opportunity to laugh at the mischief Carrey's body parts can get up to."[26]

James Berardinelli said, "The comic momentum sputters long before the running time has elapsed." Berardinelli said of Carrey that he "uses his rubber features and goofy personae" that succeeds for a short time but after that, "Carrey's act gradually grows less humorous and more tiresome, and the laughter in the audience seems forced." The critic said the film has "its moments" of humor but considered there to be "a lot of dead screen time" in between.[27]

While Michael MacCambridge of Austin American-Statesman named it as an honorable mention of his list of the best films of 1994,[28] Rocky Mountain News's Rober Denerstein listed it as the second worst of the year.[29]

Accolades

Award Ceremony Result Notes Ref.
American Comedy Award for Funniest Lead Actor in a Motion Picture 1995 American Comedy Awards Nominated
Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Male Newcomer, On Video 1st Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Comedy, On Video Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Most Promising Actor Award Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 1995 Nominated Also nominated for The Mask
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star 15th Golden Raspberry Awards Nominated Also nominated for Dumb and Dumber and The Mask
London Film Critics' Circle Newcomer of the Year Award 1995 London Film Critics' Circle Awards Won Also won for The Mask
MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance 1994 MTV Movie Awards Nominated [30]
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor 1995 Kids' Choice Awards Won [31][32]

Transgender portrayal

The film has been criticized for the way it portrays transgender people.[33] Alexandra Gonzenbach Perkins wrote in Representing Queer and Transgender Identity that mainstream representation of transgender identity at the turn of the 21st century was limited, observing that "the representations that did exist tended to pathologize transgender people as mentally unstable". Perkins said Ace Ventura, along with The Crying Game, depicted "transgender characters as murderous villains".[34]

In the book Reclaiming Genders, in a chapter focusing on transgender identity, Gordene O. Mackenzie references Ace Ventura as an example of turn-of-the-century films that "illustrate the transphobia implicit in many popular US films". Mackenzie describes the scene in which Ace Ventura retches in the bathroom, following the revelation that the woman he had kissed is trans, as "one of the most memorable and blatantly transphobic/homophobic scenes".[35] In The New York Times in 2016, Farhad Manjoo also wrote about this scene: "There was little culturally suspect then about playing gender identity for laughs. Instead, as in many fictional depictions of transgender people in that era, the scene’s prevailing emotion is of nose-holding disgust."[36]

Future

In October 2017, Morgan Creek Entertainment announced plans to reboot several films from its library, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Its president David Robinson said Morgan Creek's plan was not to simply remake the film, but to do a follow-up in which Ace Ventura passes the mantle to a new character, such as a long-lost son or daughter.[37] In 2018, according to Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls co-star Tommy Davidson, Carrey displayed a lack of interest in participating.[38]

By March 2021, a sequel film was in development at Amazon Studios with the screenwriters of the 2020 film Sonic the Hedgehog, Pat Casey and Josh Miller, attached.[39]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Crisafulli, Chuck (February 18, 1994). "It's Zany and Aces With Fans: Movies: 'Ace Ventura' with Jim Carrey has taken in $24.6 million, and is still going strong". Los Angeles Times. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  3. ^ Evans, Bradford (14 February 2013). "The Lost Roles of Rick Moranis". Vulture. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  4. ^ O'Connell, Ryan (28 January 2019). "David Alan Grier Talks Dancing With Madonna, Turning Down 'Ace Ventura,' and the One Wack Packer He Wants to Hang With on the Stern Show". Howard Stern. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  5. ^ Mell, Eila (24 January 2015). Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others. McFarland. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4766-0976-8.
  6. ^ June 30, Bruce Fretts Updated; EDT, 1995 at 04:00 AM. "Lauren Holly's career picks up". EW.com. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. ^ a b Krulik, Nancy (2001). Jim Carrey: Fun and Funnier. Gallery Books. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-7434-2219-2.
  8. ^ . Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  9. ^ a b Klady, Leonard (February 14, 1994). "Weather storms B.O.; 'Ace' detects success". Variety. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  10. ^ Alexander, Max (April 25, 1994). "Robinson to widen Morgan Creek flow". Variety. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  11. ^ Groves, Don (December 11, 1995). "'Ace' holds o'seas B.O. winning hand". Variety.
  12. ^ Cerone, Daniel (July 18, 1994). "He's All Bent Out of Shape Over 'High Strung' Plans". Los Angeles Times. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  13. ^ Willis, Andrew (2004). Film Stars: Hollywood and Beyond. Manchester University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-7190-5645-1.
  14. ^ Galloway, Stephen (May 8, 2017). "Home on the Range". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  15. ^ Flanagan, Victoria (2013). "Transsexualism versus hegemonic masculinity in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective". Into the Closet: Cross-Dressing and the Gendered Body in Children's Literature and Film. Routledge. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-136-77728-8.
  16. ^ Yuster, Adam (February 4, 2019). "The Stars of 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective': Where Are They Now?". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  17. ^ Reilly, Nick (October 27, 2017). "'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' is being considered for a reboot". NME. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  18. ^ Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Blu-ray, retrieved 2022-05-20
  19. ^ Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Blu-ray (25th Anniversary Edition), retrieved 2022-05-20
  20. ^ "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  21. ^ . Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  22. ^ Ebert, Roger (February 4, 1994). "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective". Chicago Sun-Times. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  23. ^ Gaydos, Steve (February 7–13, 1994). "Film Reviews: Ace Ventura, Pet Detective". Variety. 40-41.
  24. ^ Holden, Stephen (February 4, 1994). "Reviews/Film; On the Trail Of a Lost Fish". The New York Times. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  25. ^ a b Kempley, Rita (February 4, 1994). "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective". The Washington Post. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  26. ^ a b Howe, Desson (February 4, 1994). "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective". The Washington Post. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  27. ^ Berardinelli, James (1994). . movie-reviews.colossus.net. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006.
  28. ^ MacCambridge, Michael (December 22, 1994). "it's a LOVE-HATE thing". Austin American-Statesman (Final ed.). p. 38.
  29. ^ Denerstein, Robert (January 1, 1995). "Perhaps It Was Best to Simply Fade to Black". Rocky Mountain News (Final ed.). p. 61A.
  30. ^ . MTV. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008.
  31. ^ Kleid, Beth (May 22, 1995). "Auctions". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. ProQuest 293201691.
  32. ^ Mangan, Jennifer (June 8, 1995). "Popular Vote". Chicago Tribune. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  33. ^ Siegel, Alan (August 28, 2019). "Comedy in the '90s, Part 2: The Year Jim Carrey Arrived". The Ringer. Retrieved January 6, 2021. ...Ace Ventura's infamous, unequivocally offensive twist. The audience learns late in the movie that antagonist Lois Einhorn, a police lieutenant played by Sean Young, is a transgender woman... The revelation causes Ace, who had kissed Einhorn in an earlier scene, to become violently ill.
    • Reynolds, Emma (September 25, 2020). "Books and movies keep creating transgender aggressors. But trans people are far more likely to be victims of violence". CNN. Retrieved January 6, 2021. Numerous films and TV shows in recent decades -- from 'The Cleveland Show' to 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' -- feature cisgender straight men vomiting repeatedly after learning they had touched a trans woman.
    • Yuster, Adam (February 4, 2019). "The Stars of 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective': Where Are They Now?". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 6, 2021. Ventura's over-the-top negative reaction to his discovery that Lt. Lois Einhorn is transgender (she was previously Dolphins kicker Ray Finkle) has been a source of controversy since Ace Ventura's debut.
  34. ^ Perkins, Alexander Gonzenbach (2017). Representing Queer and Transgender Identity: Fluid Bodies in the Hispanic Caribbean and Beyond. Bucknell University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-61148-840-1.
  35. ^ Mackenzie, Gordene O. (2016). "50 Billion Galaxies of Gender: Transgendering the Millennium". In Whittle, Stephen (ed.). Reclaiming Genders: Transsexual Grammars at the Fin de Siecle. Gender Studies: Bloomsbury Academic Collections. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-4742-9283-2.
  36. ^ Manjoo, Farhad (June 7, 2016). "In the Fight for Transgender Equality, Winning Hearts and Minds Online". The New York Times. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  37. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 26, 2017). "Morgan Creek Prods. Rebrands Itself, Plans TV & Film Reboots Of 'Young Guns', 'Ace Ventura', 'Major League' & More". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  38. ^ Stanton, Leanne Aciz (July 18, 2018). "Jim Carrey 'Doesn't Want' to Do Another 'Ace Ventura' Movie Right Now, Pal Says". Us Weekly. from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  39. ^ Staff (March 19, 2021). . Park Circus. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021.

External links

ventura, detective, this, article, about, film, animated, series, series, 1994, american, comedy, film, starring, carrey, ventura, animal, detective, tasked, with, finding, abducted, dolphin, mascot, miami, dolphins, football, team, film, directed, shadyac, wr. This article is about the film For the animated TV series see Ace Ventura Pet Detective TV series Ace Ventura Pet Detective is a 1994 American comedy film starring Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura an animal detective who is tasked with finding the abducted dolphin mascot of the Miami Dolphins football team The film was directed by Tom Shadyac who wrote the screenplay with Jack Bernstein and Jim Carrey The film co stars Courteney Cox Tone Loc Sean Young and then Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino and features a cameo appearance from death metal band Cannibal Corpse Ace Ventura Pet DetectiveTheatrical release posterDirected byTom ShadyacScreenplay byJack Bernstein Tom Shadyac Jim CarreyStory byJack BernsteinProduced byJames G RobinsonStarringJim Carrey Sean Young Courteney Cox Tone Loc Dan MarinoCinematographyJulio MacatEdited byDon ZimmermanMusic byIra NewbornProductioncompanyMorgan Creek ProductionsDistributed byWarner Bros Release dateFebruary 4 1994 1994 02 04 Running time86 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 15 million 1 Box office 107 2 million 1 Morgan Creek Productions produced the film on a budget of 15 million and Warner Bros released the film in February 1994 It grossed 72 2 million in the United States and Canada and 35 million in other territories for a worldwide total of 107 2 million It received mixed reviews from critics Carrey s performance led to the film having a cult following among male adolescents In addition to launching Carrey s film career it also started a franchise spawning the sequel film Ace Ventura When Nature Calls 1995 the animated television series Ace Ventura Pet Detective three seasons 1995 2000 and later standalone made for television sequel Ace Ventura Jr Pet Detective 2009 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Music 5 Release 6 Critical reception 7 Accolades 8 Transgender portrayal 9 Future 10 References 11 External linksPlot EditAce Ventura is an unorthodox Miami based private detective who specializes in retrieving tame or captive animals He struggles to pay his rent and is often mocked by the Miami Police Department led by Lieutenant Lois Einhorn who finds Ventura insufferable Two weeks before the Super Bowl the Miami Dolphins mascot a bottlenose dolphin named Snowflake is kidnapped at Joe Robbie Stadium Melissa Robinson the team s chief publicist hires Ventura to find Snowflake Searching Snowflake s tank for clues Ventura finds a rare triangle cut orange amber stone in the filter Ace suspects billionaire Ronald Camp may have stolen Snowflake as he is known for collecting exotic animals through less than reputable means and sources Ventura and Melissa sneak into Camp s party where Ventura mistakes a shark for Snowflake and is nearly eaten Camp apologizes and shakes Ventura s hand revealing on one of his own fingers a ring with an amber stone set identical to the one Ventura found Ruling out Camp as his ring was not missing the amber stone Ventura recognizes the stone as part of a 1984 AFC Championship ring and concludes that a member of the 1984 Miami Dolphins line up may have kidnapped Snowflake and attempts to identify the culprit by their rings However he discovers all of the team members rings are intact Roger Podacter the team s head of operations mysteriously dies after falling from his apartment balcony Einhorn declares it a suicide but Ventura proves that it was murder because the soundproof balcony glass doors were closed when the police arrived despite a neighbor claiming to have heard screaming He comes across an old photograph of the football team discovering an unfamiliar player named Ray Finkle who was added as a placekicker in mid season Finkle missed a relatively easy field goal kick at the end of Super Bowl XVII which cost the Dolphins the championship and ruined his career Visiting Finkle s parents Ventura learns that Finkle blamed quarterback Dan Marino for allegedly mishandling the ball before the kick and became so fixated on this that he was committed to a mental hospital for homicidal tendencies Marino himself is kidnapped shortly thereafter Ventura visits Einhorn pitching his theory that Finkle kidnapped both Marino and Snowflake in an act of revenge as he was offended that the dolphin has been given Finkle s old team number and a field goal trick to boot he also theorizes that Finkle murdered Podacter when the latter discovered him snooping around his apartment Einhorn compliments Ventura and kisses him before attempting to dissuade him from continuing the case since there is now a suspect but Ventura refuses since he is still under contract by the Dolphins to locate Snowflake Ventura and Melissa go to the mental hospital where Ventura poses as a potential patient Ventura uncovers a newspaper article in Finkle s possessions about a missing hiker named Lois Einhorn Piecing together the evidence Ventura to his shock and disgust realizes that Einhorn is Finkle Finkle underwent plastic surgery to take on the identity of the missing Einhorn and took advantage of her position in the Miami Police Department to get revenge on Marino and the Dolphins On Super Bowl Sunday Ventura follows Einhorn to an abandoned yacht storage facility where she has Marino and Snowflake held hostage Einhorn calls the police blaming Ventura with no proof Melissa and Ventura s friend police officer Emilio suspecting the deception stage a hostage situation to get the police to listen to Ventura To prove Einhorn is Finkle Ace strips her of her clothes and with help from Marino reveals that Einhorn never got the penectomy and vaginoplasty necessary to perfect the disguise Podacter discovered this during a date with Einhorn and was pushed off the balcony to stop him from revealing this to the public Einhorn Finkle is arrested by the police after attacking Ventura and her ring is confirmed to have the stone missing Marino and Snowflake are welcomed back during half time at the Super Bowl Ventura is then shown on the stadium s jumbotron and acknowledged as their savior even as he gets into a scuffle with the Philadelphia Eagles mascot Swoop over a rare pigeon receiving a large ovation from the crowd Cast EditJim Carrey as Ace Ventura Courteney Cox as Melissa Robinson Sean Young as Lt Lois Einhorn Ray Finkle Tone Loc as Emilio Dan Marino as Himself John Capodice as Sgt Aguado Noble Willingham as Riddle Troy Evans as Roger Podacter Raynor Scheine as Woodstock Udo Kier as Ronald Camp Frank Adonis as Vinnie Tiny Ron as Roc David Margulies as Doctor Bill Zuckert as Mr Finkle Judy Clayton as Martha Mertz Alice Drummond as Mrs Finkle Rebecca Ferratti as Sexy Woman Mark Margolis as Mr Shickadance Ace s landlord Randall Tex Cobb as Gruff Man Cannibal Corpse as themselvesProduction EditThe Chairman and CEO of Morgan Creek Productions James G Robinson sought in the early 1990s to produce a comedy that would have wide appeal Gag writer Tom Shadyac pitched a rewrite of the script to Robinson and was hired as director for what was his directorial debut 2 Filmmakers first approached Rick Moranis to play Ace Ventura but Moranis declined the role 3 They then considered casting Judd Nelson or Alan Rickman and they also considered changing Ace Ventura to be female and casting Whoopi Goldberg as the pet detective David Alan Grier also turned down to play Ace Ventura 4 Ultimately the producers noticed Jim Carrey s performance in the sketch comedy show In Living Color and cast him as Ace Ventura 5 Lauren Holly turned down the role of Melissa Robinson which eventually went to Courteney Cox 6 Carrey helped rewrite the script and filmmakers allowed him to improvise on set Carrey said of his approach I knew this movie was going to either be something that people really went for or it was going to ruin me completely From the beginning of my involvement I said that the character had to be rock n roll He had to be the 007 of pet detectives I wanted to be unstoppably ridiculous and they let me go wild He said he sought comedic moments that would be unappealing to some I wanted to keep the action unreal and over the top When it came time to do my reaction to kissing a man I wanted it to be the biggest most obnoxious homophobic reaction ever recorded It s so ridiculous it can t be taken seriously even though it guarantees that somebody s going to be offended 2 Filming took place in Miami Florida in the second quarter of 1993 7 The film was produced on a budget of 15 million 1 Music EditThe film score was composed by Ira Newborn The soundtrack produced by Morgan Creek Records included a variety of songs by other musicians No TitleMusicLength1 Power of Suggestion Steve Stevens and Perry McCarty4 382 All Ace s Ira Newborn2 413 The Lion Sleeps Tonight Robert John2 354 Psychoville Ace Race Ira Newborn4 385 Theme from Mission Impossible Lalo Schifrin0 546 Ace of Hearts Ira Newborn4 047 Hammer Smashed Face Cannibal Corpse4 058 Line Up Aerosmith4 149 The Crying Game Boy George3 2110 Warehouse Ira Newborn5 0511 Finkle amp Einhorn Ira Newborn2 3612 Ace in the Hole Ira Newborn1 5413 Ace Is in the House Tone Loc and Jim Carrey4 34Release EditWarner Bros released Ace Ventura Pet Detective in 1 750 theaters in the United States and Canada on February 4 1994 The film grossed 12 1 million on its opening weekend ranking first at the box office and outperforming other new releases My Father the Hero and I ll Do Anything 1 Opening weekend audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on a scale of A to F 8 For its second weekend it grossed 9 7 million and ranked first at the box office again 9 outperforming newcomers The Getaway Blank Check and My Girl 2 1 Variety reported of Ace Ventura s second weekend in box office performance The goofball comedy defied dire predictions by trackers slipping just 20 for a three day average of 5 075 and 24 6 million in 10 days 9 The Los Angeles Times reported Audiences are responding enthusiastically to Carrey s frenzied antics The film is especially a hit with the 10 to 20 year old age group it was originally targeted for Box office grosses indicate that many fans are going back to see the film again 2 It grossed 72 2 million in the United States and Canada and 35 million in other territories for a worldwide total of 107 2 million 1 The film s US box office performance led Variety to label it a sleeper hit 10 Its best performance overseas was in Italy 11 On home video Ace Ventura sold 4 2 million home videos in its first three weeks which Los Angeles Times called just as powerful a draw as its theatrical run 12 Carrey also starred in The Mask and Dumb and Dumber later in the year The three films had a total box office gross of 550 million which ranked Carrey as the second highest grossing box office star in 1994 behind Tom Hanks 13 The Hollywood Reporter said before Ace Ventura Jim Carrey was seen mainly as TV talent and that with the film s success it firmly established him as a big screen presence The film s success also led Morgan Creek Productions to produce the 1995 sequel Ace Ventura When Nature Calls with Carrey reprising his role 14 Author Victoria Flanagan wrote that Carrey s performance generated cult success for the film among adolescent male viewers 15 The Hollywood Reporter wrote that it gained a loyal cult following through frequent TV airings 16 NME wrote in retrospect that the film was a cult 1990s comedy 17 Ace Ventura Pet Detective was released on VHS on June 14 1994 DVD on August 26 1997 and Blu ray on September 3 2013 by Warner Home Video Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on Blu ray for the 25th Anniversary Edition in April 2019 18 19 Critical reception EditThe Los Angeles Times reported at the time Not many critics have been charmed by Ace Ventura s exploits and several have charged that the film s humor is mean spirited needlessly raunchy and homophobic 2 A biography on Carrey wrote that the fans loved him and the critics hated him 7 Ace Ventura Pet Detective received generally unfavorable reviews from contemporary critics according to review aggregator Metacritic which assessed 14 reviews and categorized six as negative five as positive and three as mixed It gave the film an overall score of 37 out of 100 20 The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes assessed a sample of 62 contemporary and retrospective reviews as positive or negative and said 48 of the critics gave positive reviews with an average rating of 5 10 In 2019 Rotten Tomatoes wrote of the consensus Jim Carrey s twitchy antics and gross out humor are on full bombastic display in Ace Ventura Pet Detective which is great news for fans of his particular brand of comedy but likely unsatisfying for anyone else 21 Roger Ebert reviewing for the Chicago Sun Times said I found the movie a long unfunny slog through an impenetrable plot Ebert described the lead role Carrey plays Ace as if he s being clocked on an Energy O Meter and paid by the calories expended He s a hyper goon who likes to screw his mouth into strange shapes while playing variations on the language 22 Steve Gaydos of Variety praised Carrey s ceaseless energy and peculiar talents but reported Film sputters and eventually slows to a trot due to the script s inability to give Carrey anything more than a free rein to mug and strut and a third act payoff that takes the film s generally inoffensive tastelessness into a particularly brutal and unpleasant stew of homophobia and misogyny 23 The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden said The comic actor Jim Carrey gives one of the most hyperactive performances ever brought to the screen Only a child could love Mr Carrey s character but that may be the point The movie has the metabolism logic and attention span of a peevish 6 year old He said of Ace Ventura s animals The few scenes of Ace communicating with his animals hint at an endearing wackiness that is abruptly undercut by the movie s ridiculous plot 24 The Washington Post s film critics Rita Kempley and Desson Howe reviewed the film positively 25 26 Kempley said A riot from start to finish Carrey s first feature comedy is as cheerfully bawdy as it is idiotically inventive She added A spoof of detective movies the story touches all the bases 25 Howe said that the film is a mindless stretch of nonsense and highlighted multiple Carreyisms along the way Howe concluded There are some unfortunate elements that were unnecessary a big strain of homophobic jokes for one profane and sexual situations that rule out the kiddie audience for another But essentially Ace is an unsophisticated opportunity to laugh at the mischief Carrey s body parts can get up to 26 James Berardinelli said The comic momentum sputters long before the running time has elapsed Berardinelli said of Carrey that he uses his rubber features and goofy personae that succeeds for a short time but after that Carrey s act gradually grows less humorous and more tiresome and the laughter in the audience seems forced The critic said the film has its moments of humor but considered there to be a lot of dead screen time in between 27 While Michael MacCambridge of Austin American Statesman named it as an honorable mention of his list of the best films of 1994 28 Rocky Mountain News s Rober Denerstein listed it as the second worst of the year 29 Accolades EditAward Ceremony Result Notes Ref American Comedy Award for Funniest Lead Actor in a Motion Picture 1995 American Comedy Awards NominatedBlockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Male Newcomer On Video 1st Blockbuster Entertainment Awards WonBlockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor Comedy On Video WonChicago Film Critics Association Most Promising Actor Award Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 1995 Nominated Also nominated for The MaskGolden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star 15th Golden Raspberry Awards Nominated Also nominated for Dumb and Dumber and The MaskLondon Film Critics Circle Newcomer of the Year Award 1995 London Film Critics Circle Awards Won Also won for The MaskMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance 1994 MTV Movie Awards Nominated 30 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor 1995 Kids Choice Awards Won 31 32 Transgender portrayal EditThe film has been criticized for the way it portrays transgender people 33 Alexandra Gonzenbach Perkins wrote in Representing Queer and Transgender Identity that mainstream representation of transgender identity at the turn of the 21st century was limited observing that the representations that did exist tended to pathologize transgender people as mentally unstable Perkins said Ace Ventura along with The Crying Game depicted transgender characters as murderous villains 34 In the book Reclaiming Genders in a chapter focusing on transgender identity Gordene O Mackenzie references Ace Ventura as an example of turn of the century films that illustrate the transphobia implicit in many popular US films Mackenzie describes the scene in which Ace Ventura retches in the bathroom following the revelation that the woman he had kissed is trans as one of the most memorable and blatantly transphobic homophobic scenes 35 In The New York Times in 2016 Farhad Manjoo also wrote about this scene There was little culturally suspect then about playing gender identity for laughs Instead as in many fictional depictions of transgender people in that era the scene s prevailing emotion is of nose holding disgust 36 Future EditIn October 2017 Morgan Creek Entertainment announced plans to reboot several films from its library including Ace Ventura Pet Detective Its president David Robinson said Morgan Creek s plan was not to simply remake the film but to do a follow up in which Ace Ventura passes the mantle to a new character such as a long lost son or daughter 37 In 2018 according to Ace Ventura When Nature Calls co star Tommy Davidson Carrey displayed a lack of interest in participating 38 By March 2021 a sequel film was in development at Amazon Studios with the screenwriters of the 2020 film Sonic the Hedgehog Pat Casey and Josh Miller attached 39 References Edit a b c d e f Ace Ventura Pet Detective Box Office Mojo Retrieved March 26 2018 a b c d Crisafulli Chuck February 18 1994 It s Zany and Aces With Fans Movies Ace Ventura with Jim Carrey has taken in 24 6 million and is still going strong Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved October 11 2018 Evans Bradford 14 February 2013 The Lost Roles of Rick Moranis Vulture Retrieved 11 March 2023 O Connell Ryan 28 January 2019 David Alan Grier Talks Dancing With Madonna Turning Down Ace Ventura and the One Wack Packer He Wants to Hang With on the Stern Show Howard Stern Retrieved 11 March 2023 Mell Eila 24 January 2015 Casting Might Have Beens A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others McFarland p 5 ISBN 978 1 4766 0976 8 June 30 Bruce Fretts Updated EDT 1995 at 04 00 AM Lauren Holly s career picks up EW com Retrieved 11 March 2023 a b Krulik Nancy 2001 Jim Carrey Fun and Funnier Gallery Books pp 46 47 ISBN 978 0 7434 2219 2 Cinemascore Archived from the original on 2018 12 20 a b Klady Leonard February 14 1994 Weather storms B O Ace detects success Variety Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 20 2018 Alexander Max April 25 1994 Robinson to widen Morgan Creek flow Variety Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 20 2018 Groves Don December 11 1995 Ace holds o seas B O winning hand Variety Cerone Daniel July 18 1994 He s All Bent Out of Shape Over High Strung Plans Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved October 11 2018 Willis Andrew 2004 Film Stars Hollywood and Beyond Manchester University Press p 71 ISBN 978 0 7190 5645 1 Galloway Stephen May 8 2017 Home on the Range The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 20 2018 Flanagan Victoria 2013 Transsexualism versus hegemonic masculinity in Ace Ventura Pet Detective Into the Closet Cross Dressing and the Gendered Body in Children s Literature and Film Routledge p 199 ISBN 978 1 136 77728 8 Yuster Adam February 4 2019 The Stars of Ace Ventura Pet Detective Where Are They Now The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved November 15 2020 Reilly Nick October 27 2017 Ace Ventura Pet Detective is being considered for a reboot NME Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved September 30 2018 Ace Ventura Pet Detective Blu ray retrieved 2022 05 20 Ace Ventura Pet Detective Blu ray 25th Anniversary Edition retrieved 2022 05 20 Ace Ventura Pet Detective Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved October 12 2017 Ace Ventura Pet Detective 1994 Rotten Tomatoes Archived from the original on April 10 2019 Retrieved June 9 2022 Ebert Roger February 4 1994 Ace Ventura Pet Detective Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 21 2018 Gaydos Steve February 7 13 1994 Film Reviews Ace Ventura Pet Detective Variety 40 41 Holden Stephen February 4 1994 Reviews Film On the Trail Of a Lost Fish The New York Times Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 21 2018 a b Kempley Rita February 4 1994 Ace Ventura Pet Detective The Washington Post Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 21 2018 a b Howe Desson February 4 1994 Ace Ventura Pet Detective The Washington Post Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 21 2018 Berardinelli James 1994 Review Ace Ventura movie reviews colossus net Archived from the original on 25 August 2006 MacCambridge Michael December 22 1994 it s a LOVE HATE thing Austin American Statesman Final ed p 38 Denerstein Robert January 1 1995 Perhaps It Was Best to Simply Fade to Black Rocky Mountain News Final ed p 61A 1994 MTV Movie Awards MTV Archived from the original on April 23 2008 Kleid Beth May 22 1995 Auctions Los Angeles Times p 2 ProQuest 293201691 Mangan Jennifer June 8 1995 Popular Vote Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved June 19 2020 Siegel Alan August 28 2019 Comedy in the 90s Part 2 The Year Jim Carrey Arrived The Ringer Retrieved January 6 2021 Ace Ventura s infamous unequivocally offensive twist The audience learns late in the movie that antagonist Lois Einhorn a police lieutenant played by Sean Young is a transgender woman The revelation causes Ace who had kissed Einhorn in an earlier scene to become violently ill Reynolds Emma September 25 2020 Books and movies keep creating transgender aggressors But trans people are far more likely to be victims of violence CNN Retrieved January 6 2021 Numerous films and TV shows in recent decades from The Cleveland Show to Ace Ventura Pet Detective feature cisgender straight men vomiting repeatedly after learning they had touched a trans woman Yuster Adam February 4 2019 The Stars of Ace Ventura Pet Detective Where Are They Now The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved January 6 2021 Ventura s over the top negative reaction to his discovery that Lt Lois Einhorn is transgender she was previously Dolphins kicker Ray Finkle has been a source of controversy since Ace Ventura s debut Perkins Alexander Gonzenbach 2017 Representing Queer and Transgender Identity Fluid Bodies in the Hispanic Caribbean and Beyond Bucknell University Press p 43 ISBN 978 1 61148 840 1 Mackenzie Gordene O 2016 50 Billion Galaxies of Gender Transgendering the Millennium In Whittle Stephen ed Reclaiming Genders Transsexual Grammars at the Fin de Siecle Gender Studies Bloomsbury Academic Collections Bloomsbury Publishing p 208 ISBN 978 1 4742 9283 2 Manjoo Farhad June 7 2016 In the Fight for Transgender Equality Winning Hearts and Minds Online The New York Times Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 20 2018 Andreeva Nellie October 26 2017 Morgan Creek Prods Rebrands Itself Plans TV amp Film Reboots Of Young Guns Ace Ventura Major League amp More Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved March 23 2018 Stanton Leanne Aciz July 18 2018 Jim Carrey Doesn t Want to Do Another Ace Ventura Movie Right Now Pal Says Us Weekly Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved June 6 2020 Staff March 19 2021 Spotlight On Morgan Creek Park Circus Archived from the original on March 19 2021 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Ace Ventura Pet Detective Ace Ventura Pet Detective at IMDb Ace Ventura Pet Detective at Box Office Mojo Ace Ventura Pet Detective reviews repository at Rotten TomatoesPortals Film United States Comedy 1990s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ace Ventura Pet Detective amp oldid 1149635957, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.