Ace Ventura Pet Detective Jr. (PG, 2009)

In this straight-to-DVD movie set 15 years after the last Ace Ventura film featuring Jim Carrey, Ace's son Ace Jr. (Josh Flitter) is following in Dad's footsteps, though doesn't quite realize it yet. His mother (Ann Cusack) works at a zoo and wants Ace to try to act "normal," but the 12-year old's passion for missing pets gets in the way. When Mom is arrested and jailed under suspicion of panda cub-napping, Ace Jr. recruits a few friends to help find the panda and prove his mother's innocence, getting a little advice on how to be true to his Ventura roots from his grandfather (Ralph Waite).

For a movie that's nominally about being yourself, ACE JR. is a lot more appealing before Flitter starts channeling his inner Jim Carrey. As an overweight, awkward 6th grader who can't help helping animals, there's a real appeal to Flitter, as when he blurts "Oh my god you're pretty!" to a girl he likes and then claps his hands over his mouth in agonized embarrassment. Putting on his Ventura pants and coif may give him confidence, but it also makes him obnoxious. He is outplayed in that only by the school's token rich kid, Quentin Pennington Jr. whose bratty exclusiveness will be familiar to viewers of MTV's My Super Sweet 16.

For kids under seven, the subplots of both famous animals and family pets going missing alongside the aforementioned panda may get confusing. And there is a lot of very naughty behavior, like the destruction of a valuable dinosaur skeleton, that is brushed under the rug. This is OK for older animal lovers to see as long as there's some discussion of what behaviors are amplified for laughs and what would be acceptable in real life.