Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1993)

When I first saw this movie as an eleven year old, I swore that it was the funniest thing that I had ever seen. Sixteen years later, I still find it hard to top. In Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Jim Carrey goes in search of a missing football mascot and gets caught up in a plot seeking revenge on Dolphins' quarterback Dan Marino. To me, this movie is the Thriller of slap-stick, gross-out, fall-over laughing comedies; it revolutionized the way an entire genre of films were made. The cast of this film, while for the most part unknown, is outstanding. This was the movie that launched the career of the one-time highest paid actors in Hollywood. Ace Ventura helped Jim Carrey transition from television shows like In Living Color to being one of the biggest movie stars on the planet. The things that he does in this film, his facial expressions, his movements, his creativity and timing are absolutely amazing. No one else could have performed this role; it is a masterpiece akin to Belushi's Bluto. Another very interesting performance in the Pet Detective is turned in by Courteney Cox in her first big screen appearance. She is great in Ace Ventura, and went on to become one of the biggest TV stars in the world on Friends. What's amazing about this movie and all really good comedies is that the plot, while ridiculous in and of itself, is actually interesting. As Ventura struggles to find out who kidnapped the dolphin, he works in moments of pure, authentic comedy genius and one liners that I still quote today. Until Old School, which I would not say is a better movie, but a more contemporary version of the same style of comedy, Ace Ventura was the film which I measured all other comedies against. To this day, if I really want to laugh, it is still what I watch. My wife is not the biggest fan, but she never saw it when the movie was fresh and original. My best friend and I must have watched this movie over 100 times, acting out each scene as we went; needless to say, we were really popular, but also, I love this movie and cannot wait to see it again. This is one of my favorite comedies in the history of the cinema; I give Ace Ventura: Pet Detective 5 stars.