Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

This article is about the film. For the TV series, see Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (TV series).

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective poster
Directed by	Tom Shadyac
Produced by	James G. Robinson
Screenplay by	Jack Bernstein Tom Shadyac Jim Carrey
Story by	Jack Bernstein
Starring	Jim Carrey Courteney Cox Sean Young Tone Lōc Dan Marino
Music by	Ira Newborn
Cinematography	Julio Macat
Editing by	Don Zimmerman
Studio	Morgan Creek Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	February 4, 1994 (1994-02-04)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million
Box office	$107,217,396

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Jim Carrey. It was developed by the film's original writer, Jack Bernstein, and co-producer, Bob Israel, for almost six years. It co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Lōc, Sean Young and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino.

The film did well at the box office, grossing $107 million worldwide with a budget of $11 million. A sequel was made, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, as well as an animated series, which lasted three seasons. The film has a large cult following.

Plot

Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) is a private investigator living in Miami, Florida, who specializes in retrieval of tame or captive animals. Despite the success of his methods, he does not often receive many assignments and therefore cannot pay rent or repair his battered 1970s Chevrolet Monte Carlo; whereas his eccentricities make him the laughingstock of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

At Joe Robbie Stadium, Snowflake, a bottlenose dolphin mascot of the Miami Dolphins, is kidnapped two weeks before the team is due to play in the imminent Super Bowl. Dolphins owner Mr. Riddle, believing the team will fear to lose the Super Bowl unless Snowflake is returned, orders his head of operations, Roger Podacter (Troy Evans), and chief publicist Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox) to find Snowflake. Ventura is hired to solve the case and discovers his first clue in the form of a rare triangular-cut orange amber stone, which he speculates to have fallen from a 1984 AFC Championship ring. Ventura then tries to find his culprit by tricking each member of the championship squad into showing their rings; the attempt fails.

Later, Podacter mysteriously falls to his death from his apartment, which Robinson and Ventura go to investigate. Although Miami Police Lt. Lois Einhorn (Sean Young) insists it was suicide, Ventura proves it was murder, embarrassing her. While trying to find how Podacter's death is connected to Snowflake's disappearance, Ace learns of a former Dolphins kicker named Ray Finkle, whom he missed during his earlier investigation. Finkle had missed the potentially game-winning field goal kick at the end of Super Bowl XVII, causing the Dolphins to lose the game and his own career to fail.

Having discovered Finkle's obsession with fellow-player Dan Marino, whom the kicker blames for his loss, Ventura is sure Finkle is the culprit, but cannot find him. Ace and Melissa go to a mental hospital where Finkle was last seen; where under the guise of a mental patient, Ace searches Finkle's belongings and discovers a newspaper article about a missing woman, coincidentally named Lois Einhorn. Studying this, Ventura realizes to his disgust that Lt. Lois Einhorn is Finkle in disguise.

Ventura then follows Finkle to an abandoned dock, where he finds a kidnapped Marino and Snowflake. When the police arrive, Finkle orders the cops to shoot Ace; whereupon Ace tries to expose Finkle by ripping off her clothes, but fails until assisted by Marino.

Marino and Snowflake return in time for the Super Bowl XXVII between the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles. At halftime, Ventura attempts to capture an albino pigeon that was the subject of another case he is handling, but is prevented by Swoop, the Eagles' mascot. Enraged, Ventura beats the mascot and is thanked on the JumboTron for saving Marino and Snowflake.

Cast

• Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura
• Courteney Cox as Melissa Robinson
• Sean Young as Lt. Lois Einhorn/Ray Finkle
• Tone Lōc as Emilio
• Dan Marino as Himself
• 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
• John Capodice as Aguado
• Judy Clayton as Martha Mertz
• Bill Zuckert as Mr. Finkle
• Alice Drummond as Mrs. Finkle
• Rebecca Ferratti as Sexy Woman
• Mark Margolis as Mr. Shickadance
• Don Shula as Himself
• Scott Mitchell as Miami Dolphins Player
• Cannibal Corpse as themselves
• Nosey (Miami Seaquarium, Florida) as Snowflake the dolphin

Release

Box office

Ace Ventura grossed $12,115,105 in 1,750 theaters in its first week. When it stopped showing in theaters in the US, the total gross was $72,217,396. It went on to gross $35,000,000 internationally.

Reception

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective received mixed reviews. It holds a 45% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 51 reviews. However, it was much more popular with the general public, making back over six times its budget at the U.S. box office and embedding itself, the Ventura character, and his catch-phrases in pop culture. Along with The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, the film is widely credited with launching the career of actor Jim Carrey, who was nominated for the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.The film's popularity spawned a 1995 sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, with Carrey returning in the lead role.

The film has been noted as sexist, transphobic, and homophobic for its depiction of Ray Finkle as Lois Einhorn. Julia Serano cited the film as an example of the trope of "deceptive transsexuals" in the media.

American Film Institute recognition:

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • "All-righty then!" - Nominated

Allusions

• Ray Finkle's missed kick is loosely based on Scott Norwood's missed game winner in Super Bowl XXV. In reality, the 49ers defeated Miami easily in Super Bowl XIX, 38-16, not by one point as depicted in the film. Miami also played in Super Bowl XVII, but lost to the Washington Redskins 27-17. In Super Bowl XXVII, featured the Dallas Cowboys easily defeating the Buffalo Bills, 52-17. The Dolphins and the Eagles have not played in a Super Bowl against each other. Furthermore, the film portrays Super Bowl XXVII as taking place in Miami; in fact, that game took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California (Miami would host Super Bowl XXIX in 1995, a year after the film's premiere). No team has ever played the Super Bowl in their home stadium in the league's history.
• The plotline of a successful college kicker failing in the NFL and becoming a criminal paralleled the eventual career path of Russell Erxleben. Erxleben, who currently holds the record for the longest field goal in NCAA history (Ventura briefly mentions that Finkle broke that record in the context of the movie), would be convicted of securities fraud in 1999.
• Upon Ace's discovery of Einhorn's true identity, the song 'Crying Game' can be heard, an obvious reference to the eponymous film.
• At Ron Camp's party, the Theme from Mission: Impossible plays as Ace begins to explore the grounds of the estate.
• Snowflake the dolphin is based on the 60s Miami Dolphins mascot Flipper.
• When Ace investigates Roger Podacter's death, he admits defeat when he apparently has no evidence that Podacter's death was a murder instead of a suicide. As he walks off, he dramatically stops in his tracks and utters the phrase "Oh... there is just one more thing..." before presenting his evidence. This phrase, and the mannerisms leading to it, are a direct reference to Columbo, in which the titular character is famous for uttering the phrase when he confirms his suspicion on the suspect he interrogates.
• At Ron Camp's Party when Ace discovers a shark tank he is pushed back and forth by the shark, a reference to Jaws.
• When Ace solves the crime in the apartment, he claims he says "This house is clear". This is a reference to Poltergeist.

In popular culture

• In Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, the titular character suggests sending a client to Ace after hearing that the case involves strange animals.
• Progressive Metal band The Fall of Troy have a song titled "Laces out, Dan" on their debut album.
• In the World of Warcraft raid dungeon of Blackwing Descent there is a character named Finkle Einhorn, a reference to two characters in the movie. This character also is tied into a quest line involving the Blackrock Caverns dungeon. He also appears in the Mount Hyjal zone.
• In The Office episode "New Boss", Pam says "I can tell Michael's mood by which comedy routine he chooses to do—the more infantile, the more upset he is—and he just skipped the Ace Ventura talking butt thing. He never skips it".
• In Saints Row: The Third, there is a taunt called "Pet Detective".

External links

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective at the Internet Movie Database
• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective at AllRovi