[255D[8C[0;34mĿ
[8C  [1;33mACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE:  [32mTom Shadyac, director.[6C[0;34m
[8C  [1;32mJack Bernstein and Tom Shadyac & Jim Carrey, screen-[5C[0;34m
[8C  [1;32mplay.  Jack Bernstein, story.  Starring Jim Carrey,[6C[0;34m
[8C  [1;32mSean Young, Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, Dan Marino, Noble   [0;34m
[8C  [1;32mWillingham, Troy Evans, Raynor Scheine, and Udo Kier.    [0;34m
[8C  [1;32mWarner Bros.  Rated PG-13.[31C[0;34m
[8C


[10C[1;36mThere's a long line of jerkitude in American film, going all
[5Cthe way back to the crazed antics of the Keystone Kops.  But
[5Cmodern jerkitude, with its endless mugging shot through with
[5Csudden outbursts of unfocused manic energy, really got its start
[5Cwith Jerry Lewis' solo movies.  In a way, you could say that Jim
[5CCarrey is a latter-day Jerry Lewis, with all the attendant
[5Cpositives and negatives that go with the image.  Self-righteous,
[5Cdumb-as-dirt ineptitude mixed with the high-velocity activity of
[5Ca cat that has to be in another room, *any* other room, right
[5CNOW! needs a story to wrap itself around to succeed.  The story
[5Chas to be solid and the over-the-top antics have to be motivated
[5Cand character or situation-driven to entertain me these days.
[5CUnfortunately, [33mACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE [36mdoesn't live up to the
[5Cchallenge it sets for itself, despite containing several very
[5Cfunny scenes.

[10CI could shoot Steve Martin for having revived film jerkitude
[5Cwith his first starring role in [33mTHE JERK [36m([37m1979[36m).  While I'm fond
[5Cof slapstick, I don't like films that rely too much on freeform
[5Cbits that don't relate to the rest of the movie.  Jim Carrey's
[5Ccraziness works to great effect on [34mIN LIVING COLOR [36m(Fox-TV), but
[5Cin [33mACE VENTURA[36m, a little bit goes a long way.  So much of it is
[5Cunmotivated, just thrown in because somebody thought it was
[5Cfunny, that you get a kitchen-sink effect of Carrey's comedy:
[5Ctoo overwhelming for its own good.  Director Shadyac should have
[5Cearned his money and learned to say "No" to Carrey in several
[5Cscenes.  Characters like this always raise the question, "Why the
[5Check does he act like that?" which in turn begs the question,
[5C"Why the heck does anyone put up with him?"

[10CAce differs from his film jerk colleagues, though:  he
[5Cactually has a brain.  Too bad his brain is engaged only when
[5Che's detecting.  He's short on the social graces, but then what
[5Cfilm jerk isn't?  I find there's only a certain amount of
[5Coutrageousness a film can contain from a single character; once
[5Cthe outrageousness reaches the saturation point, anything beyond
[5Cthat strains credulity.  (It's an entirely different matter if
[5Cthe whole movie is wigged out, though, and that's another review
[5Cfor another time.)  Reflecting on the film, I begin to wonder why
[5CI'm having such a problem with Carrey's character; I mean, he
[5Cisn't even HALF as annoying as Chris Elliott in [33mCABIN BOY[36m.

[10CThe film starts promising enough:  Snowflake, the Miami
[5CDolphins' mascot, has been kidnaped, and Ace Ventura is called
[5Cin.  He immediately finds a clue, after going through a couple
[5CStar Trek impressions (if Robin Williams is the King of Non-
[5CSequiters, Carrey is the Crown Prince), a clue that the cops, led
[5Cby ice queen Lt. Einhorn (Sean Young), had missed completely: a
[5Cgem from an AFC championship ring.  With a combination of clever
[5Cdeduction and moronic wit, not to mention an embarrassing
[5Cconfrontation in the team showers, Ventura manages to solve the
[5Ccase.  But not before the Dolphins' quarterback, Dan Marino (who
[5Cplays himself, natch), is also snatched.  The final revelation
[5Cis, well, umm . . . different.  All the way through, Carrey
[5Cmanages to put his rubber body and elastic face to maximum
[5Ceffect, for the good and ill that does.

[10CMost of the supporting cast aren't given much to do around
[5CCarrey's mugging.  Courteney Cox plays the team's publicist, and
[5Cof course she falls for Ventura.  Tone Loc marks time as a cop
[5Cwho feeds Ventura some needed information, under Lt. Einhorn's
[5Cnose.  Marino is . . . himself, what else can I say?  Sean
[5CYoung steals the show from the other supporting players, though.
[5CBased on this and on her performance in [33mFATAL INSTINCT[36m, I think
[5CYoung could become a sought-after comedic actress if she could
[5Cjust find the right vehicle.

[5C[32mRATING:  [37m$[0m
