Classic Carrey!

"If I'm not back in five minutes... just wait longer."

Jim Carrey's hilarious antics always guarantee a bunch of quality laughs. Over the years, Carrey has starred in an enormous amount of nonsensical comedies that are funny but nothing groundbreaking.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a textbook example of one of those aforementioned comedies that are nothing more than light-hearted entertainment. Jim Carrey has no problem with bouncing around the screen embarrassing himself while overacting, performing hilarious stunts and just acting in a wild (not to mention bizarre) fashion; demanding attention for every scene he appears in. What is there not to laugh about?

Ace Ventura (Carrey) is a unique pet detective; that is, he solves crimes that involve typical household pets and other animals in that vein. He specialises in recovering animals that have gone missing or have been kidnapped. For Ventura's latest assignment, he is hired to investigate the sudden disappearance of a dolphin that acts as a mascot for the Miami Dolphins football team. Ventura is one whose crazy actions and antics mirror those of the animals he loves so much and has vowed to protect.

Only someone of Jim Carrey's stature could allow something like this to work. His overacting and hilarious antics will have you in stitches on multiple occasions. It's obvious that the filmmakers hired him for nothing more than his zany nature and crazy mannerisms.

Of course the film is filled with gags, but there are things that unfortunately drag down the film's value to nothing more than a bit of entertainment. For one, it's amazing that Ventura is so knowledgeable and yet acts so silly in every scene. I mean his detective skills could make Sherlock Holmes look like an amateur. Such a juvenile nature, and yet so smart. A combination that has mystified me.

And every time the film tries to turn into a serious drama to make itself seem more than B-Grade entertainment, it fails and instead makes us wonder why they even bothered. In all honesty, if they kept the quality gags coming from start to finish with a smaller attempt at drama the film would have been a lot better.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a single note movie filled with a bunch of great gags and clever characters. It's highly flawed, but at least it's entertaining. The kids will love Carrey, but beware the continuous string of sexual gags.

7/10