This week’s Throwback Thursday review marks the first time Jim Carrey hits our site, and it’s a fitting place to start, since this stands as one of the very best and
original examples of what made the comedian such an explosive comedic force in the decades since Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’s release. The film is chaotic at all times, built around a wildly messy premise involving a stolen dolphin from the Miami Dolphins’ stadium and a comic detective specializing in pets, but that mess is precisely the appeal, since Ace Ventura isn’t necessarily a great
film in any traditional narrative sense, yet it belongs fully to itself, knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be, and executes on that vision, leading to massive appeal and commercial comedic success. Carrey’s facial expressions as Ace work far harder and land far more consistently than any of his actual dialogue, with physical comedy essentially functioning as his entire language throughout the runtime, contorting and committing in ways that carry scenes that dialogue alone never could. The film slowly slips in clues to its eventual grand and absurd reveal and twist that are only really viable in a rewatch, a level of craft that is unexpected and easy to miss on a first viewing but genuinely rewards the film’s cult following that revisits it so often. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective stands as one of the definitive comedy vehicles of the entire 1990s, establishing Carrey’s own unmatched, monumental type of comedy, one that’s been emulated by countless comedians since but never truly matched by anyone else to this day.
The film introduces Carrey as a mailman, which turns out to be a disguise as he is Ace Ventura the Pet Detective and sets out to protect animals from bad owners as a side gig, immediately establishing the animal-loving, off-kilter moral code and attitude Carrey enters into his character, a genuine love for animals before the plot even properly kicks off. The stakes escalate quickly once Snowflake, a dolphin living his best life at the Miami Dolphins’ stadium, is stolen right out from under the team, and Ace is hired onto the case specifically to track the missing dolphin down before the situation spirals further and before the Super Bowl in a week’s time. Ace’s rapid-fire comedic comebacks and complete unselfconscious attitude carry the film consistently as he works alongside an attractive Miami Dolphins representative, eventually going undercover with her to dig deeper into the case and its widening list of suspects. It’s genuinely tough for a film to be this consistently, relentlessly hilarious scene after scene, and Ace Ventura manages to pull that off almost entirely through Carrey’s total commitment to every single bit, no matter how small or throwaway it might seem. The film itself was written by Jack Bernstein and produced by Bob Israel across six long years before it finally got made, but in the edit were Shadyac the director and Carrey who rewrote it to what we see today.
The script changed drastically when it got into the hands of this collaboration of director and lead actor, based largely on the strength of Carrey’s work in In Living Color, giving them so much creative control that the film was entirely shaped around Carrey’s persona. As Ace moves closer to solving the case, the mystery keeps building steadily in the background, even as his budding romance with the female lead starts to speed up considerably, giving the film a light emotional throughline alongside its central joke-a-second pacing. Ventura catches a bullet in his mouth during a chase scene that resembles the absurdity of the film, playing as genuinely ludicrous at every turn in the best possible way, exactly the kind of over-the-top, cartoonish gag the film thrives on and one that’s become a signature moment from Carrey’s early career. The film casts real NFL legend Dan Marino in a prominent role in the film as himself, giving the comedy an authentic degree of sports culture that was fairly unique for a comedy of its time, as Marino’s genuine willingness to commit fully to Carrey’s comedic theatrics ended up being one of the most agreed-upon highlights of the entire production. That blend of real sports credibility layered against totally comedic absurdity is a big part of what makes the film’s chaos feel intentional and controlled rather than accidental or sloppy.
The reveal that the police chief is actually the thief behind the entire scheme lands as a genuinely well-timed mid-movie comedic swing, delivered with solid comedic timing that keeps the mystery plot from ever feeling like an afterthought bolted onto the jokes. It’s a really dumb story when you break it down on paper, full of contrivances, convenient reveals, and a central mystery that barely holds together under scrutiny, but it works precisely because the film never once pretends to be anything more ambitious or serious than exactly what it is. The comedy is clearly what’s driving every single plot beat here, with the mystery structure existing mainly as a scaffold to hang Carrey’s physical performance on rather than a story that was ever built to be taken seriously in its own right. Even the film’s most ridiculous stretches (the bullet catch, the increasingly absurd disguises, the over-the-top undercover work) land because the tone never wavers for a second, staying fully committed to its own chaotic energy from the opening scene all the way through the finale. The comedy is clearly what’s driving every single plot beat here, with the mystery structure existing mainly as a scaffold to hang Carrey’s physical performance on rather than a story that was ever built to be taken seriously in its own right. Even the film’s most ridiculous stretches (the bullet catch, the increasingly absurd disguises, the over-the-top undercover work) land because the tone never wavers for a second, staying fully committed to its own chaotic energy from the opening scene all the way through the finale.
The comedy is clearly what’s driving every single plot beat here, with the mystery structure existing mainly as a scaffold to hang Carrey’s physical performance on rather than a story that was ever built to be taken seriously in its own right. Even the film’s most ridiculous stretches (the bullet catch, the increasingly absurd disguises, the over-the-top undercover work) land because the tone never wavers for a second, staying fully committed to its own chaotic energy from the opening scene all the way through the finale. This film, combined with The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, all released within the same year, made for one of the single best commercial runs of all time for any actor, with the three films combining to gross $550 million in that one remarkable year alone. The Carrey-Shadyac creative partnership only grew stronger from here, with later collaborations like Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty both going on to become massive commercial hits in their own right. The film ultimately established Carrey as a huge, bankable screen presence for years to come, transforming him almost overnight from a rising sketch comedian into a genuine household name.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective remains a chaotic, messy, but wildly entertaining and funny showcase for peak Jim Carrey, with his physical comedy doing more storytelling and character work than the script itself was ever asked to do. The film’s massive commercial success, despite hostile reviews at the time of release, helped meaningfully reshape the broader conversation around what critics were and weren’t willing to take seriously within 1990s studio comedy. Dan Marino’s cameo and the film’s authentic sports-culture backdrop give the film a surprisingly credible texture underneath all of its cartoonish absurdity. And the Carrey-Shadyac partnership that bangs right here on this film went on to define some of the biggest and most beloved comedic hits of the entire decade. Overall, Ace Ventura earns its place as a genuine comedy film giant, a film that knows exactly what it is from its very first frame and never apologizes for embracing that identity fully. Shoutout to Coach Joe for the recommendation. Ace Ventura earns a 79/100 from TwilightRoom.
TwilightRoom Score: 79.7/100
