Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) * 1/2

Directed by:  Tom Shadyac
 
Starring:  Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Dan Marino, Sean Young, Tone Loc
 
When Jim Carrey is playing hostile, aggressive, in-your-face characters like Ace Ventura, he is as pleasant as fingernails dragging across a chalkboard.     He has the range to play better roles and thankfully he has branched out as his career progressed.      Carrey puts a whole lot of energy into Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, but the results aren't funny.     Many people laughed hysterically at Carrey as he mugged his way desperately through scene after scene.    I didn't and still don't understand what is so funny.     Twenty years after seeing Ace Ventura the first time, I'm happy to see that my sense of humor hasn't changed.
 
The title character is a Miami-based pet detective who finds lost animals.    He is assigned by the Miami Dolphins to find Snowflake, their dolphin mascot kidnapped from its pool shortly before the Super Bowl.     The thought of the Miami Dolphins playing in the Super Bowl may be funnier than anything else in the movie.    Then again, it was released in 1994 when Dan Marino was the quarterback.    Marino also goes missing, which further complicates the case.
 
Ace also has to put up with Lt. Einhorn (Young), who busts Ace's balls every chance she gets because she thinks he is a lousy detective.     He proves her wrong even though he is a slightly better detective than Jacques Clouseau.     Ace is so obnoxious and unlikable we almost wish he wouldn't solve the case, which we care little about anyway.    The film's success rests on Carrey, which means that the film is not a success.
 
Carrey's methods at surgically removing laughs include facial contortions, phrases like "Alrighty then", and generally being a loud, boorish creep.     The other actors stand around waiting for Carrey to stop his act so they can utter their lines.   Courteney Cox (pre-"Friends") is on hand as the Dolphins employee who hires Ace and acts as the potential love interest.    Her role is thankless, as are most of the supporting roles.  

Carrey has talent and should do his best to avoid playing roles like Ace Ventura.    I remember once watching his standup act from the early 80s in which he employed numerous vocal impressions and facial expressions of famous people.    That was pretty funny.