Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

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Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

PG-13

1994

1h 26m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

48%

Tomatometer

65 Reviews

57%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

When the dolphin mascot of Miami's NFL team is abducted, Ace Ventura, a zany private investigator who specializes in finding missing animals, looks into the case. Soon Miami Dolphins players are kidnapped too, including star player Dan Marino, making Ace's sleuth work even more pressing. Working with Dolphins representative Melissa Robinson, Ace closes in on the culprits, but not before many ridiculous misadventures.

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Critics Consensus

Jim Carrey's twitchy antics and gross-out humor are on full, bombastic display in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which is great news for fans of his particular brand of comedy but likely unsatisfying for anyone else.

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Michael Hutak

Sydney Morning Herald

02/28/2024

Ace Ventura is puerile, brain-numbing and forgettable.

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Chris Willman

Los Angeles Times

04/02/2019

Playing a celebrated finder of missing mammals, [Carrey's] so over-energized from the start you keep thinking he'll wear out his welcome pronto; 90 minutes later his lunacy is still hard to take your eyes off.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

11/08/2010

F

Carrey suggests an escaped mental patient impersonating a game-show host.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Apr 13

6/10

Jokes come thick and fast, in the form of snappy dialogue, eccentric behaviour, weird line deliveries, and a near-perpetual stream of film and pop culture references.

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Fico Cangiano

CineXpress Podcast

05/05/2025

3/5

Wacky and absurd, Pet Detective is the perfect stage for Jim Carrey to show off his physical comedy skills. And it's amazing to behold. [Full review in Spanish]

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

08/31/2022

D

The twist ending is unnecessary and has the unsavory side effect of teaching millions of young Ace fans that it’s unimaginably gross for a man to kiss a trans woman — this from a movie whose hero talks out of his butt.

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Chris S

@Janomi 4d

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective has plenty to like because Jim Carrey commits so completely to the character. The voices, faces, movement, posture, and bizarre confidence make Ace impossible to forget. His physical comedy is the whole engine of the movie. The pet-detective premise is wonderfully stupid in the right way. A missing dolphin investigation gives the movie a ridiculous hook, and it moves quickly from one goofy scene to the next without worrying too much about logic. Courteney Cox helps ground the story as Melissa, giving Ace someone more normal to bounce off. The movie is packed with quotable lines and gestures that became a huge part of Carrey’s comedy identity. The downside is that Ace can be exhausting. His energy is the point, but he is so loud and constant that it wears thin, especially if you remember every 10-year-old boy copying him for months afterward.

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Easton B

@Ebmoviemaster2026 5d

HILARIOUS, JIM CARREY IS THE BEST COMEDIAN!!!!!!!!!!!

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Daniel K

@RT51539515 Aug 2

Absolutely one of the top 5 comedies ever made. Jim Carrey is a national treasure.

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mik S.

@Gotalive May 25

Best movie of all time

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Mario R.

@Marioversal5 May 12

pure 90s stupid comedy that is funny today

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Kristo W.

@kwarthen1 Apr 27

It’s so dumb. That’s what makes it awesome.

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Tom Shadyac

Director

Jim Carrey

Ace Ventura

Courteney Cox

Melissa Robinson

Sean Young

Lt. Lois Einhorn

Tone Loc

Emilio

Dan Marino

Self

Juwanna Mann

9%

40%

Juwanna Mann

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Dave

95%

72%

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57%

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59%

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Synopsis

When the dolphin mascot of Miami's NFL team is abducted, Ace Ventura, a zany private investigator who specializes in finding missing animals, looks into the case. Soon Miami Dolphins players are kidnapped too, including star player Dan Marino, making Ace's sleuth work even more pressing. Working with Dolphins representative Melissa Robinson, Ace closes in on the culprits, but not before many ridiculous misadventures.

Director: Tom Shadyac
Producer: James G. Robinson
Screenwriter: Jake Bernstein, Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey
Distributor: Argentina Video Home, Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers, Morgan Creek Productions
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 4, 1994, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 6, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $71.2M
Runtime: 1h 26m
Sound Mix: Surround

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