--- title: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/ace-ventura-pet-detective/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/ace-ventura-pet-detective" critics_score: 37 critics_reviews: 8 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994): what the critics said Critics' score 37 from 8 reviews: 1 positive, 2 mixed, 5 negative. Most critics do not think much of it. Five of the eight reviews are negative and only one is positive, and the verdict that recurs is that Jim Carrey’s performance is far more energetic than the film around it. Nearly everyone grants him that energy; several remark on how manic he is, and the Los Angeles Times finds it produces real, if unexpected, laughs alongside the hero’s odd tenderness towards animals. Where the reviews part is over whether the energy is enough. The 1994 notices mostly complain that there are too few gags for the running time and that the plotting has the attention span of a small child. The third-act twist is the other sticking point: Variety objects to it at the time, and later reviews from Vulture and Slant make it the central charge, describing it as openly homophobic and transphobic. The spread is wide, but heavily weighted towards the bottom. ## Los Angeles Times — Chris Willman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 4 February 1994. Willman finds the film uneven but capable of inducing unexpected giggles through Carrey's over-the-top, inhuman energy. He praises the hero's childlike bond with animals amid the farce. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-04-ca-18909-story.html) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 1 February 1994. The review notes the film is briskly paced with Carrey's energy but has too few gags to sustain its length. It criticizes the third-act payoff for veering into homophobia and misogyny. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/ace-ventura-pet-detective-1200436019/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 15 August 2013. The critic views the film as a cultural touchstone for its quotable catchphrases and toilet humor that defined early 90s tween comedy, while acknowledging its noxious transphobia and homophobia in the central twist and reactions. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/ace-ventura-comedy-touchstone.html) ## The New York Times — Stephen Holden Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 4 February 1994. Holden describes Jim Carrey's hyperactive performance as one of the most energetic on screen but likens the film to the logic and attention span of a peevish child. He notes its focus on silly asides over plot. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/04/movies/reviews-film-on-the-trail-of-a-lost-fish.html) ## Empire — Julian Ketchum Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film is a private detective spoof marking Jim Carrey's feature debut, with Carrey playing an animal specialist who tracks a missing dolphin mascot. The plot is absurd but the gags are mostly inane and fail to sustain the runtime. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/ace-ventura-pet-detective-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 4 February 1994. Ebert views the film as an unfunny slog centered on one joke about Ace Ventura's weird nerdiness. He notes it might appeal only to very young children. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ace-ventura-pet-detective-1994) ## Slant Magazine — R. Kurt Osenlund Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 31 January 2014. The critic finds the film shockingly offensive in its homophobia and transphobia, as well as its insensitivity toward mental illness and animal captivity, arguing the big twist and climax amount to militant contempt for LGBT people that could not be made today. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sinful-cinema-ace-ventura-pet-detective-the-most-offensive-and-homophobic-football-movie-ever-made/) ## Time Out — NKe Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic outlines the plot of the bumbling sleuth tracking a stolen dolphin and uncovering a scheme, noting Jim Carrey's manic style was familiar and appealing to US audiences from his TV work. It is dismissed as a Naked Gun rip-off and desperate stuff. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ace-ventura-pet-detective-1) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/ace-ventura-pet-detective.md