Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - PG-13
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know might be misled by the seemingly innocent movie title, and should be aware that the bathroom humor and sexual content can be offensive. They should be further warned that dramatic kids might spend days imitating Carrey's wildly exaggerated mannerisms. Some teens may enjoy the so-called humor and insist on seeing it, but parents might want to watch with them.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Common Sense Media
Here's a testament to Jim Carrey's peculiar genius. In 1994 he was paid $350,000 to play Ace Ventura, his first starring role in a movie. In just two years, his enormous box office appeal catapulted that price to $20 million for The Cable Guy. Without Carrey, ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE would add up to a perfect zero.
The movie revolves around Carrey's talent for contorting his face. On display in a loud shirt and roller coaster hairdo, he mugs and writhes incessantly, shamelessly, for his audience. Director Tom Shadyac, (The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar) indulges his antics and butt-cheek ventriloquism, mindful not to put anything in the way--like a plot--that might distract from his prize performer.
Carrey's aren't the only talents squandered in this juvenile production. Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino gets almost as much screen time as Sean Young and Courteney Cox do, and it appears he shouldn't quit his day job anytime soon.
Parents might be misled by the seemingly innocent movie title, and should be aware that the bathroom humor and sexual content can be offensive. They should be further warned that dramatic kids might spend days imitating Carrey's wildly exaggerated mannerisms.
But will kids like it? Undoubtedly some will, the same way they'd like throwing a Superball inside the house and watching it ricochet all over the room. Lowbrow connoisseurs will get a lot more laughs out of Carrey in Dumb and Dumber. Or just buy a Superball.
Rate It!| Content | ||||
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Sexual ContentImplied oral sex; bed-rattling sex hidden under covers. There's a lengthy shot of a man's bare bottom. |
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ViolenceA fistfight between a man and a woman, with some blood. A man jumps off his penthouse balcony and is killed. People fall off cars and balconies and into shark-infested fish tanks. Several gunshots.. A shot of sharks with sharp teeth, a man jumps off a ba |
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LanguageInfrequent extreme language and occasional mild profanities. A rude finger gesture. |
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Social BehaviorThe women in the movie serve little purpose beyond sex and cleavage. Lots of tasteless humor: gay jokes, jokes about people with mental illness, bathroom humor. |
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