Jim Carrey did something unique with Ace Ventura. It was released in 1994 and still gets quoted till today and I personally love that movie and rank it at same level to his classics like The Musk. But it's not because it was particularly clever or profound.
The movie succeeded because Jim Carrey went all in on the absurdity. He didn’t phone it in. I think most actors would have played the pet detective character ironically. Carrey went full blown retard. At some point I asked myself whether someone forced him to behave that way but it was funny anyways. The way he communicates with animals, the way he moves. That stuff shouldn’t have worke but it did.
It doesn’t hurt that the movie doesn’t attempt to justify its existence. They knew exactly what it was going to be, well Jim did. They didn't try to make Ventura similar to what was cinema standard by giving him a compelling backstory. He’s a man who recovers lost pets and acts like a lunatic, that’s it
The slapstick is actually really good, though. Jim Carrey spent years improving his skills before getting noticed by Hollywood. Pay attention to the way he uses facial expressions. Pay attention to the way he falls down. It’s actually pretty impressive. Not many comedians can do it. He's a legend in his own category.
Also, the timing was right. Comedy was evolving in the early 90s. People were getting sick of buddy cop movies and polished Eddie Murphy films. Ace Ventura was like someone opened a window to a whole new stupid comedy.
The film is kind of a mess on script. Some of the jokes fall flat. The plot didn't hold up to close inspection. But that’s part of what made it work. You don’t remember something for being perfect. This movie isn’t perfect. It’s just Jim Carrey being Jim Carrey, turned up to eleven. That I believe was exactly what the world needed.
