Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 wacky comedy movie, directed by Tom
Shadyac. It stars Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox,
Tone Loc, Sean Young, among others. Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan
Marino also portrays himself in a major role.
Background
The story follows the adventures of Ace Ventura, an eccentric detective who specializes in cases involving pet animals, in his search for "Snowflake", the missing
mascot of the Miami Dolphins. Ace is easily identified by
not only his bright Hawaiian shirts but also his hairdo and sunglasses which were both inspired by the
Dirty Harry Callahan character from actor Clint
Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies.
This film and Carrey's involvement with the TV comedy show In Living Color are
said to have helped Jim Carrey establish himself as one of the highest paid comedic talents in Hollywood. This is the first of three Jim
Carrey–Tom Shadyac collaborations; others following it would be Liar, Liar, and Bruce Almighty.
The film inspired a successful sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature
Calls (1995) and a spin-off Ace Ventura: Pet
Detective cartoon series on CBS. A third film, Ace
Ventura, Jr., is currently being planned. In the upcoming third film Jim Carrey will not be involved with this film as
he is not a big fan of doing the same character repeatedly; some have surmised that Carrey does not wish to appear in sequels to
films he stars in (such as a sequel to Bruce Almighty, which was turned into
Evan Almighty, which unlike most of Jim Carrey movie's sequels was actually a
hit).
Plot summary
Ace, disguised as a delivery man, steals a kidnapped dog from its brusque, unhygenic, violent captor and restores it to its
owner, a gorgeous woman who proceeds to seduce Ace in lieu of monetary payment.
Ace himself lives in an apartment, which he retains by deceiving his landlord. Many
animals of several species live with Ace, who shares an affinity with them.
Because the landlord forbids pets, Ace conceals them.
The Miami Dolphins team's owner threatens to cancel the coming games if the suddenly
absent mascot Snowflake is not found. Agent Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox) contacts Ace,
seeking help. Ace meets Melissa, who explains that Snowflake is a rare bottlenose
dolphin who is trained to perform football-themed tricks. The team is very superstitious, and may not win the Super Bowl
unless Snowflake is returned; therefore the discovery of Snowflake's location is imperative. After meeting coach Roger and
scaring off reporters, Ace enters the dolphin tank and finds his first clue: a tiny jewel.
At the police station, Ace learns from his friend in the police force, Emilio, that Sergeant Aguado is working on the
Snowflake case. The fearsome Lt. Lois Einhorn (Sean Young) storms in, warning Ace to avoid
the Snowflake case altogether.
Ace visits his ecologist friend Woodstock to find out who would have enough money to purchase
equipment used to capture and hold a dolphin. The prime suspect is Ronald Camp, the local billionaire, who is throwing a lavish
party. Ace, accompanied by Melissa, attends the party.
Ace searches the premises. He finds a large tank full of water, but
discovers that it contains a shark. He later discovers a stone identical to the one found earlier.
The stone, a rare trianglar-shaped amber, is from a 1984 AFC Championship Ring. Camp wore an identical ring that
night, but it was not missing a stone. Ace, trying to find whose ring is missing a stone, eliminates all the players known to
him.
Melissa and Ace learn that coach Roger Podacter is dead. The police believe it to be a case of suicide. Ace disproves this by taking the information that Podacter's neighbor heard a scream, supposedly from
Podacter's fall from his balcony, and the fact that the sliding door leading to the balcony was closed when the apartment manager
entered; because the door is made from double-paned, soundproof glass, Podacter's neighbor could not have heard the scream if Podacter had committed suicide and closed the
door himself. Instead, he was thrown off the balcony, whereas the killer closed the door on the way out. Ace humiliates Einhorn
with this revelation and is driven away as a result.
While trying to figure out how Podacter's death is connected to Snowflake, Ace
learns that 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 after the photograph was taken that Ace has used as a reference. 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; however 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-Finkle
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. Finkle's room contains a
hate shrine to player Dan Marino, consisting of cardboard stand-ins and photos of the football
star, the words "DIE DAN DIE" scrawled in red, and knives
sticking out of Marino's face. A film projector in the middle of the room plays recorded footage of the field goal that Finkle
missed. Finkle blames Marino for the incident, because he was holding the football inaccurately when Finkle kicked it. Ace
realizes that Dan Marino is probably about to be kidnapped.
Ace returns to Miami and lays out Finkle's motive to Lt. Einhorn. The hypothesis is that Finkle kidnapped Snowflake was
because the dolphin was assigned Finkle's jersey number and taught how to kick a field goal, which Finkle took as an insult. In
light of this evidence, Einhorn suddenly starts attempting to seduce Ace; Ace turns her down after
feeling something "digging into" his hip. He assumes it to be Einhorn's gun.
Searching for Ray Finkle, Ace tracks him to 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 immediately calls Emilio, who looks
through Einhorn's desk, finding evidence that points to Einhorn as Coach Podacter's killer. 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 covers around Finkle's
head, so that he looks like a woman. Looking at it, Ace realizes that Finkle had sex
reassignment surgery to pose as Lois Einhorn. He then realizes that the thing that was digging into his hip when Einhorn
started coming onto him was Einhorn's/Finkle's penis. He then rushes into a bathroom and vomits in disgust.
Ace follows Einhorn to a warehouse by the docks. He finds Dan Marino tied up, but is 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. He tries to prove his accusation by revealing a telltale male appendage, but fails! Eventually, Dan Marino reveals that
the male sexual organs are hidden behind their owner's legs. Ace exposes Finkle, using this and the
criminal's ring, which is missing the incriminating stone, as evidence. The whole squad then starts vomiting because
Einhorn/Finkle had kissed or came on to them.
Marino is returned to the team in time for the Super Bowl, as is Snowflake. While sharing a tender moment with Melissa at the
game, Ace sees an albino pigeon, whom he had been chartered to find, and tries to catch it. The
Philadelphia Eagles' mascot scares the bird away, enraging Ace. The audience takes notice and the announcer displays Ace on the
JumboTron, reading aloud Ace's dedication and love for "all animals" while Ace is punching the headpiece of the Eagles'
mascot.
Cast
Reaction
In spite of Jim Carrey's nomination for a Razzie for Worst New Star, the
movie became a box-office success and helped boost Carrey's career, thrusting him into the Hollywood limelight and paving the way for several other successful projects in the
future such as The Mask and Dumb &
Dumber.
Trivia
- "Einhorn" in German means Unicorn, a subtle hint about the true nature of Lieutenant
Einhorn.
- A scene in the movie where Spike is jumping around Ace's apartment was used as the original Rally Monkey for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
in 2000. As its popularity grew, Angel Stadium
officials got a similar capuchin monkey for new Rally Monkey footage. Spike also appears
in the sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and in
the cartoon series. The monkey also has a habit of popping into
other Carrey films, for instance, the monkey that comes out of the hoodlum's buttocks in Bruce Almighty is the same species and breed as Spike.
- The idea for the "Ray Finkle" character missing a game-winning field goal in the Super
Bowl was inspired by Buffalo Bills kicker Scott
Norwood who actually missed a 47-yard game winning field goal in Super Bowl
XXV.[1] In the 1984
season the Miami Dolphins actually played in Super Bowl
XIX with Dan Marino as their quarterback but they were defeated in a 38–16 rout by the San Francisco 49ers.[2]
- Actual members (at the time) of the Miami Dolphins appear during the Isotoner commercial scene, including quarterback
Scott Mitchell. The scene features the same gag used in the real life
commercials where Marino's teammates (in uniform) pick him up and carry him away.
- Miami Dolphins kicker Pete Stoyanovich plays the role of Einhorn/Finkle's "kicking"
double and does the scene (in a dress, wearing flat dress shoes instead of high heels) where Einhorn/Finkle kicks the football
through the hole in the roof.
- Uwe von Schamann is the player depicted as Ray
Finkle in Finkle's parents' game film. While with the Miami Dolphins, he was a member of two Super Bowl teams and was
perfect in both of them, not missing an extra point or a field goal in each one. The footage of the missed kick was authentic.
The game used was Super Bowl XIX when the Dolphins lost to the 49ers.
- Ace Ventura's detective character is a parody of Clint Eastwood's character
Dirty Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry movies. Carrey, who has appeared in two of Clint
Eastwood's movies, spoofed some of Dirty Harry's traits such as his waivy hairdo, sporty sunglasses, large 1970's
sedan, and occasional tough-guy attitude.
- Jim Carrey opted to put his favorite band, Cannibal Corpse, into the movie; they
appear in the scene where Ace goes to meet Woodstock, on stage playing the song "Hammer Smashed Face". However, due to the
explicit lyrics in the song, television captions shows then-lead singer Chris
Barnes singing "grr!" over and over. The band is also incorrectly listed in the credits as "Cannibal Corpses", and that
they are a "thrasher band".
- When Ace deduces that the murderer is a woman who used to be a man, the song "Crying Game" sung by Boy George begins to play.
- The name of the mental institution in the film "Shady Acres" is a play on director Tom
Shadyac's surname.
- In the syndication version, Aguado asks how Ace is going to solve the murder of a bug he squashed. Ace replies that the
motive behind the murder is because the killer (Aguado) saw the size of the bug's "gerkin" ("dick" in the real movie) and became
jealous. They also cut out Ace's comment about porking Aguado's wife. There is
another scene where Ace goes to a bar in Collier County. Any major curses were censored or toned down.
- Ace's catchphrase, "Alrighty then!" was nominated for a position on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes but failed to appear on the final list.
Character
-
The character of Ace was created by screenwriter Jack Bernstein. He had wanted to do a comedic version of Sherlock Holmes, and
when watching "stupid pet tricks" on Late Night With David
Letterman, got the idea for a pet detective.
In other cultures
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?"
Box office
- Opening weekend U.S. gross: $12,115,105'
- Total U.S. box office gross: $72,217,396.
References
- ^ Carucci, Vic (2006). No. 7: Norwood envisioned kick as a winner. SuperBowl.com. NFL Enterprises LLC.
Retrieved on 2006-04-01.
- ^ Super Bowl XIX. Super Bowl History. About.com. Retrieved on 2006-04-01.
External links
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