Taglines: He’s the best there is! (Actually, he’s the only one there is.)
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective begins with our hero Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) rescuing a dog from an angry man, all but destroying his car in the process. The dog’s owner, an attractive young woman, seduces Ace to avoid paying the detective’s fee- a feat that Ace hardly resists.
Late in the night at Miami Stadium, a group of individuals break in and steal the Miami Dolphins’ mascot- a trained dolphin named Snowflake. Next morning, the Dolphin’s Head of Operations Roger Podacter (Troy Evans) and his Chief Publicist named Melissa Robinson (Courtney Cox) are instructed to find the missing Snowflake before the upcoming Super Bowl (out of fear that the theft will affect the superstitious football players). A member of their staff was previously a client of Ace Ventura so they decide to call in this “pet detective” in to try investigating.
Meanwhile, Ace is trying to capture a rare bird with a reward of $25,000 with no success. After receiving the request from Melissa to investigate, Ace goes to the stadium and takes a look inside Snowflake’s tank, finding a small stone in the filter system. Roger spots a team of reporters heading to the tank and is worried (fearing the negative press that would result from knowledge of Snowflake’s abduction). Ace poses as an eccentric animal trainer and manages to drive the reporters (Antoni Corone and Margo Peace) away.
Later that day, Ace Ventura stops in at the local police headquarters. After an altercation with Sgt. Aguado (John Capodice), Ace meets his friend Detective Emilio (Tone Loc) to find out what leads the police may have. Emilio admits that a missing animal case isn’t a priority for the police but they suspect that one of the local animal rights groups, who have repeatedly protested the Miami Dolphin’s ownership of Snowflake, may be responsible. At this point, Emilio’s superior, attractive female Lt. Lois Einhorn (Sean Young) comes along and throws Ace out.
Ace visits his hacker buddy Woodstock (Raynor Scheine) to try and find information relating to the purchase of equipment that would be necessary for handling a dolphin. Woodstock notices several purchases by a man named Ron Camp (Udo Kier), a billionaire who apparently enjoys gathering rare fish. Furthermore, Woodstock notes that Camp donated land to the Miami Dolphins for the building of a new stadium.
Ace decides to investigate Ron Camp further and gets into a party thrown by Camp that evening with Melissa. As Camp attempts to seduce Melissa, Ventura investigates Camp’s home and finds a large aquarium tank that he assumes holds the missing Snowflake. However, the tank actually holds a large shark and Ace barely escapes with his life.
As Melissa and Ace leave the party, her very annoyed and him wet as a hen and with rags instead of pants, the detective notices an unusual ring on Camp’s hand, manhandling the billionaire in order to get a closer look. When they return to the stadium, Ace informs Melissa of the stone he found in Snowflake’s tank-and Camp’s ring had the same kind of stones, but since no stones were missing, Camp was not the one responsible for Snowflake’s abduction. The ring in question is a 1984 AFC Championship Ring, won by the Miami Dolphins. Ace decides to personally investigate all the ring-owners to find one with a missing stone, but before long his photographic list of suspects has run out with no results.
Melissa attempts to console Ace about his failure to find the damaged ring. Ace is in no mood for her and they trade insults. As Ace goes inside to apologize, Melissa receives a devastating phone call- Roger Podacter is dead. The police investigate Podacter’s apartment, learning that Roger’s body was found after crashing through a sunroof twenty stories below his apartment balcony. Lt. Einhorn is in charge of the investigation and she is prepared to pronounce Podacter’s death a suicide. Ace, however, disagrees, insisting that Roger was murdered.
After interviewing Podacter’s neighbor (Florence Mistrot), who had heard a scream in the apartment and the manager (who opened the balcony door to check the place), Ace’s theory is proven- Roger’s balcony door is made of soundproof glass and thus Roger’s neighbor couldn’t have heard a scream with the door closed- meaning that somebody else closed the door upon leaving the apartment after throwing Roger Podacter over the balcony.
Despite proving his theory to the police, Ace is still upset about not finding the correct ring. Melissa takes Ace to the stadium office to investigate paperwork regarding the sale of the rings. There, Ace spots an unfamiliar player face that was not in his previous checklist. Melissa tells Ace that the player is a mid-season replacement kicker named Ray Finkle.
Furthermore, Finkle is the player who allegedly kept the Dolphins from winning the 1984 Super Bowl- by missing the final field goal in an event known as “The Kick Heard Round The World”, a reference to Scott Norwood’s missed field goal kick in the closing moments of Super Bowl XXV. The result was Finkle’s contract with the Dolphins being canceled and he never played football again.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (or simply Ace Ventura, or also simply Pet Detective) is a 1994 American comedy detective film directed by Tom Shadyac, and co-written by and starring Jim Carrey. It was developed by the film’s original writer, Jack Bernstein, and co-producer, Bob Israel, for almost six years. The film co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Lōc, Sean Young and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino. In the film, Carrey plays Ace Ventura, an animal detective who is tasked with finding the Miami Dolphins’ mascot that was abducted.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Directed by: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc, Dan Marino, Noble Willingham, Troy Evans, Judy Clayton, John Capodice, Bill Zuckert, Frank Adonis
Screenplay by: Jack Bernstein, Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey
Production Design by: William A. Elliott
Cinematography by: Julio Macat
Film Editing by: Don Zimmerman
Costume Design by: Bobbie Read
Set Decoration by: Scott Jacobson
Art Direction by: Alan E. Muraoka
Music by: Ira Newborn
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for off-color humor and some nudity.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 4, 1994
Hits: 337
