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Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

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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 byTom Shadyac
Written byJack Bernstein (story and screenplay)
Tom Shadyac
Jim Carrey (screenplay)
Produced byJames G. Robinson
StarringJim Carrey
Courteney Cox
Sean Young
Tone Loc
Dan Marino
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited byDon Zimmerman
Music byIra Newborn
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
February 4, 1994
Running time
86 min.
CountryUnited States United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11,000,000

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Jim Carrey. It co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, and Sean Young among others. Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino also portrays himself in a major role. This was Carrey's 14th film role.

Plot

Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) is a Pet Detective, who is employed by people to reunite lost or stolen pets with their owners.

At Joe Robbie Stadium (now Dolphin Stadium), the mascot of the Miami Dolphins, Snowflake, is kidnapped in the middle of the night, two weeks before the team is due to play in the Super Bowl. Mr. Riddle, the team's owner, knows that football players can be superstitious, and therefore believes they will lose the Super Bowl unless Snowflake is returned. He gives his Head of Operations Roger Podacter (Troy Evans) and Chief Publicist Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox) the deadline of Super Bowl Sunday to find Snowflake, or they will be fired. On the recommendation of the team secretary, Melissa contacts Ace. Ace meets Melissa and Podacter before entering the dolphin tank in search of clues. Ace then searches the filter and finds his first clue: a rare cut orange amber stone.

Ace attends a party of a prime suspect, Ronald Camp, to search a recently purchased tank for Snowflake. He finds a large tank full of water, but discovers that it contains a great white shark. On his way out of the party he eyes a ring on Camp's finger and discovers it has stones in it similar to the one he found in the tank. He theorizes that the stone, a rare triangular-shaped amber piece, had fallen from a 1984 AFC Championship Ring. Ace then tries to find out whose ring is missing a stone by tricking players into showing their rings until his list of suspects is used up.

Melissa and Ace later learn that Roger Podacter is dead, many believe it was suicide, but Ace believes that it was murder. While trying to figure out how Podacter's death is connected to Snowflake's disappearance, Ace learns of a Dolphins' player named Ray Finkle, whom Ace has not investigated. Melissa explains that Ray Finkle was a star kicker who was added to the team mid-season, whereas the photograph that Ace has used as a reference was taken at the beginning of that season. Finkle had missed the potential game-winning field goal kick at the end of the Super Bowl game that year, losing to the San Francisco 49ers. After the season, Finkle received an AFC Championship ring, but his contract was not renewed.

Ace drives down to Finkle's hometown to meet the football player's parents at their home, which is defaced with anti-Dan Marino graffiti. Finkle's mother is senile, and his father is a suspicious, shotgun-wielding old man who confides to Ace that his son was put into a mental institution after his career ended. Ray Finkle's bedroom contains a shrine-like construction declaring the former resident's hate of Dan Marino, whom he blamed for the missed field goal due to mishandling the snap. Ace realizes that Marino is likely to be in trouble and alerts Melissa to send help, but Marino is kidnapped before Melissa can respond.

Ace returns to Miami and lays out Finkle's motive to Lt. Einhorn. The hypothesis is that Finkle kidnapped Snowflake because the dolphin was assigned Finkle's jersey number 5 and taught how to kick a field goal, which Finkle took as an insult.

Searching for Ray Finkle, Ace enters Shady Acres, the mental hospital in Tampa from which Finkle escaped. Ace searches the storage room and finds a box of Finkle's belongings. Looking through it, he finds a newspaper article stating that Lois Einhorn was a missing hiker whose body was never recovered. Ace calls Emilio, who looks through Einhorn's desk, finding a love letter to Einhorn from Podacter, evidence that Einhorn might have killed Podacter. While trying to determine how Finkle and Einhorn were connected, Ace's dog puts his head down on a picture of Finkle, whereupon the dog's hair alters the image of Finkle's head, so that he looks like a woman. Looking at it, Ace realizes that the lieutenant is actually Ray Finkle posing as the deceased Lois Einhorn. Ace's sense of triumph is quickly replaced with disgust after realizing that he had kissed a man disguised as a woman, since he and Einhorn made out earlier.

Ace follows Einhorn to a warehouse by the docks. After knocking out Einhorn's henchmen, he finds Dan Marino tied up, but is himself caught by Einhorn. When the cops arrive to arrest Ace (on Einhorn's orders), Melissa and Emilio stop them. Ace explains Finkle's motive and that Einhorn is actually Finkle. No one believes him; therefore Ace attempts to find proof by (unsuccessfully) attempting to expose a telltale male feature. He first tries to pull off her hair but it is real. He then rips open her shirt to prove that she has no breasts but it turns out that she does. Suddenly Marino who is slightly behind Einhorn calls Ace over and whispers something. As it turns out Einhorn had learned to tuck her penis and testicles between her legs to hide them. Ace turns her around to expose her true identity. Einhorn makes one last attempt to kill Ace, but is thrown into Snowflake's makeshift tank and exposed as the owner of the ring of the missing stone before being arrested.

The movie ends with Ace trying to capture the rare white bird at the beginning of the film worth 25 grand, when the Eagles mascot scares it away, Ace ends up getting in a fist fight with him.

Box office

  • Opening weekend U.S. gross: $12,115,105
  • Total U.S. box office gross: $72,217,396.

Cast

Cultural references

  • Ray Finkle's missed kick is loosely based on Scott Norwood's missed game winner in Super Bowl XXV.
  • The Fall of Troy's song "Laces Out Dan!" is a reference to the movie.
  • In Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, the titular character suggests sending a client to Ace after hearing that the case involves strange animals.
  • D &B / Alt Rock band Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (USS) has a song titled "Laces Out" which they have stated is inspired by Ace Ventura. They ask the crowd if they have seen the movie, then proceed to ask which way the laces face, to which the crowd replies "OUT!" and there is a "LACES" "OUT" back and forth to get the crowd pumped before they play this song
  • Metalcore band The Judas Cradle has a song entitled "Laces Out Marino".
  • Grindcore band Tower Of Rome have a song entitled "Does He Have A Name, Or Should I Call Him Lawyer?"
  • In the World of Warcraft dungeon of Upper Black Rock Spire there is a character named Finkle Einhorn, a reference to the character in the movie.
  • Mike Valenti, Detroit sports radio host, said in a small rant about the Detroit Pistons signing Kwame Brown: "Finkle is Einhorn, Einhorn is Finkle", and "I feel like Ace Ventura when he shoves 19 pieces of gum in his mouth.", both references to the movie.


Reception

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective received mixed critical reviews. It holds a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes.

TV Version

When aired in syndication, several scenes are either edited, or completely removed. To make up for this, several deleted scenes are added, such as, Ace posing as the official dolphin trainer to the press.

The following were included in the DVD:

  • A short scene where Ace asks for directions to the pigskin sports bar, followed by a scene at the pigskin sports bar where Ace finds out where Finkle's parents live
  • Ace calls Emilio from the mental hospital, followed by a scene where Ace drops Melissa off at home
  • Ace visits his hippie friend again, followed by a scene where he gets up on stage with Cannibal Corpse
  • A short scene of Melissa being blamed for Marino's disappearance
  • Snowflake getting hold of Einhorn's gun
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    References

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