Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Plot

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 wacky comedy movie, directed by Tom Shadyac. It stars Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, Sean Young, and all the members of the death metal-band Cannibal Corpse, among others. Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino also portrays himself in a major role.

The story follows the adventures of Ace Ventura, an eccentric detective who specializes in cases involving pet animals, in his search for "Snowflake", the missing mascot of the Miami Dolphins. Ace is easily identified by not only his bright Hawaiian shirts but also his hairdo and sunglasses which were both inspired by the Dirty Harry Callahan character from actor Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies.

This film and Carrey's involvement with the TV comedy show In Living Color are said to have helped Jim Carrey establish himself as one of the highest paid comedic talents in Hollywood. This is the first of three Jim Carrey–Tom Shadyac collaborations; others following it would be Liar, Liar, and Bruce Almighty.

The film inspired a successful sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) and a spin-off Ace Ventura: Pet Detective cartoon series on CBS. A third film, Ace Ventura, Jr., is currently being planned. In the up coming third film Jim Carrey will not be involved with this film as he is not a big fan of doing the same character twice.

Ace, disguised as a delivery man, steals a kidnapped dog from its brusque, unhygenic, violent captor and restores it to its owner, a gorgeous woman who proceeds to seduce Ace in lieu of monetary payment.

Ace himself lives in an apartment, which he retains by deceiving his landlord. Many animals of several species live with Ace, who shares an affinity with them. Because the landlord forbids pets, Ace conceals them.

The Miami Dolphins team's owner threatens to cancel the coming games if the suddenly absent mascot Snowflake is not found. Agent Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox) contacts Ace, seeking help.

Ace meets Melissa, who explains that Snowflake is a rare bottlenose dolphin who is trained to perform football-themed tricks. The team is very superstitious, and may not win the Super Bowl unless Snowflake is returned; therefore the discovery of Snowflake's location is imperative. After meeting coach Roger and scaring off reporters, Ace enters the dolphin tank and finds his first clue: a tiny jewel.

At the police station, Ace learns from his friend in the police force, Emilio, that Sergeant Aguado is working on the Snowflake case. The fearsome Lt. Lois Einhorn (Sean Young) storms in, warning Ace to avoid the Snowflake case altogether.

Ace visits his ecologist friend Woodstock to find out who would have enough money to purchase equipment used to capture and hold a dolphin. The prime suspect is Ronald Camp, the local billionaire, who is throwing a lavish party. Ace, accompanied by Melissa, attends the party.

Ace searches the premesis. He finds a large tank full of water, but discovers that it contains a shark. He later discovers a stone identical to the one found earlier. The stone, a rare trianglar-shaped amber, is from a 1984 AFC Championship Ring. Camp wore an identical ring that night, but it was not missing a stone. Ace, trying to find whose ring is missing a stone, eliminates all the players known to him.

Melissa and Ace learn that coach Roger Podacter is dead. The police believe it to be a case of suicide. Ace disproves this by taking the information that Podacter's neighbor heard a scream, supposedly from Podacter's fall from his balcony, and the fact that the sliding door leading to the balcony was closed when the apartment manager entered; because the door is made from double-paned, soundproof glass, Podacter's neighbor could not have heard the scream if Podacter had committed suicide and closed the door himself. Instead, he was thrown off the balcony, whereas the killer closed the door on the way out. Ace humiliates Einhorn with this revelation and is driven away as a result.

While trying to figure out how Podacter's death is connected to Snowflake, Ace learns that of a Dolphins' player named Ray Finkle, whom Ace has not investigated. Melissa explains that Ray Finkle was a star kicker who was added to the team after the photograph was taken that Ace has used as a reference. Finkle had missed the potential game-winning field goal kick at the end of the Super Bowl game that year, losing to the San Francisco 49ers. After the season, Finkle's contract was not renewed, though he received an AFC Championship ring.

Ace drives down to Finkle's hometown to meet the football player's parents at their home, which is defaced with anti-Finkle graffiti. Finkle's mother is senile, and his father is a suspicious, shotgun-wielding old man who confides to Ace that his son was put into a mental institution after his career ended. Finkle's room contains a hate shrine to player Dan Marino, consisting of cardboard stand-ins and photos of the football star, the words "DIE DAN DIE" scrawled in red, and knives sticking out of Marino's face. A film projector in the middle of the room plays recorded footage of the field goal that Finkle missed. Finkle blames Marino for the incident, because he was holding the football inaccurately when Finkle kicked it. Ace realizes that Dan Marino is probably about to be kidnapped.

Ace returns to Miami and lays out Finkle's motive to Lt. Einhorn. The hypothesis is that Finkle kidnapped Snowflake was because the dolphin was assigned Finkle's jersey number and taught how to kick a field goal, which Finkle took as an insult. In light of this evidence, Einhorn suddenly starts attempting to seduce Ace; Ace turns her down after feeling something "digging into" his hip. He assumes it to be Einhorn's gun.

Searching for Ray Finkle, Ace tracks him to Shady Acres, the mental hospital in Tampa from which Finkle escaped. Ace searches the storage room and finds a box of Finkle's belongings. Looking through it, he finds a newspaper article stating that Lois Einhorn was a missing hiker whose body was never recovered. Ace immediately calls Emilio, who looks through Einhorn's desk, finding evidence that points to Einhorn as Coach Podacter's killer. While trying to determine how Finkle and Einhorn were connected, Ace's dog puts his head down on a picture of Finkle, whereupon the dog's hair covers around Finkle's head, so that he looks like a woman. Looking at it, Ace realizes that Finkle had sex reassignment surgery to pose as Lois Einhorn.

Ace follows Einhorn to a warehouse by the docks. He finds Dan Marino tied up, but is caught by Einhorn. When the cops arrive to to arrest Ace (on Einhorn's orders), Melissa and Emilio stop them. Ace explains Finkle's motive and that Einhorn is actually Finkle. He tries to prove his accusation by revealing a telltale male appendage, but fails. Eventually, Dan Marino reveals that the male sexual organs are hidden behind their owner's legs. Ace exposes Finkle, using this and the criminal's ring, which is missing the incriminating stone, as evidence.

Marino is returned to the team in time for the Super Bowl, as is Snowflake. While sharing a tender moment with Melissa at the game, Ace sees an albino pigeon, whom he had been chartered to find, and tries to catch it. The Philadelphia Eagles' mascot scares the bird away, enraging Ace. The audience takes notice and the announcer displays Ace on the JumboTron, reading aloud Ace's dedication and love for "all animals" while Ace is punching the helmet of the Eagles' mascot.

In spite of Jim Carrey's nomination for a Razzie for Worst New Star, the movie became a box-office success and helped boost Carrey's career, thrusting him into the Hollywood limelight and paving the way for several other successful projects in the future such as The Mask and Dumb & Dumber.

The character of Ace was created by screenwriter Jack Bernstein. He had wanted to do a comedic version of Sherlock Holmes, and when watching "stupid pet tricks" on Late Night With David Letterman, got the idea for a pet detective.

The character of Ace was created by screenwriter Jack Bernstein. He had wanted to do a comedic version of Sherlock Holmes, and when watching "stupid pet tricks" on Late Night With David Letterman, got the idea for a pet detective.

In the World of Warcraft dungeon of Upper Black Rock Spire there is a character named Finkle Einhorn, a reference to the character in the movie.

The Fall of Troy's song "Laces Out Dan!" is a reference to the movie.

In Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, the titular character suggests sending a client to Ace after hearing that the case involves strange animals.

Metalcore band The Judas Cradle has a song entitled "Laces Out Marino".