1994 was one hell of a year for Jim Carrey, starting off with his first starring role in the box office bonanza ACE VENTURE: PET DETECTIVE.
At the time, I was one of the seemingly rare folks that thought Carrey's debut was mildly amusing, but way too over the top and stupid to really be great.
I love stupid humor. "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun" movies make me laugh a lot, over and over, but this one definitely did not connect with me.
Watching it again many years later, the first half hour hit me the same way, mild chuckles, some eye rolling but no laughs. But moments like Carrey's William Shatner impression and "Do Not Go In There!" bathroom scene started to crack me up.
By the time Ace's quest to find both the Miami Dolphin's live mascot and their QB Dan Marino really kicked into gear, the laughs come a lot more frequently.
The scenes with Ace pretending to be Cox's brother at the insane asylum are hilarious.
Sean Young is a solid straight man for Carrey. Their fist fight is a thing of beauty. Courtney Cox (pre-Friends) is hilarious and clearly can't stop laughing at Carrey's antics.
This was his first starring role and he gives it 1000% with pratfalls, numerous catchprases ("Allllllll righty then!" and "Laaa-whoooo--saaa-herrrrr" still hold up nicely) and enough character tics to make Ace a very annoying but ultimately amusing dude.
That same year, he would go on to make "The Mask" and "Dumb and Dumber" and rocket into the stratosphere as a huge box office draw.
It's very silly, way over the top like some manic 90's Jerry Lewis comedy, but it's got enough funny moments and physical comedy to earn a B-.
It was followed the next year by 'Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" which I absolutely hated when dragged to it in the theatre, so I'll just stick the the original and cut my losses.
Favorite way to enter a party: "Aye, Captain Stubing. How are Gopher and Doc? Permission to come aboard, sir!"
Comments