
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 5, 1994                   TAG: 9402050078
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: C7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RENE RODRIGUEZ KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COMEDIAN KEEPS `ACE' FAIRLY FUNNY

Comedian Jim Carrey ("In Living Color") has one of those rubbery faces that doesn't heed the limits of the flesh. He clowns and mugs relentlessly through "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," contorting his features into an endless array of goofy expressions that keep pace with the movie's brand of nonsensical humor.

Other times, Carrey goes full-tilt into his own alarming riffs, reading lines with such bizarre inflections - "re-ee-eh-eh-EH-lly" instead of "really" - and with such furious energy, the only possible reaction is nervous laughter. He is exceedingly, aggressively odd.

Fortunately, Carrey is in almost every scene in "Ace Ventura." And marking their dramatic debuts: Miami Dolphins Dan Marino, Don Shula, Dwight Stephenson and Marco Coleman (among others), playing themselves.

Carrey plays the title character, an animal-loving detective (he keeps a veritable zoo in his South Beach apartment) who only handles cases involving pets.

When the Dolphins' mascot Snowflake, a bottle-nosed dolphin, is kidnapped from its tank at Joe Robbie Stadium on the eve of the Super Bowl, the Dolphins' marketing director (Courteney Cox) hires Ventura to solve the case.

The police also are looking into the disappearance, and Ventura irritates Lt. Einhorn (a bored-looking Sean Young) by continually staying two steps ahead of the official investigation. But when Dolphins quarterback Marino also disappears, it becomes clear this isn't simply a case of an infuriated animal lover.

The solution to the mystery proves surprisingly clever - at least for a movie that wears its dumb badge with pride - and there are funny moments in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" that keep you from giving up entirely, though they are few, so we won't spoil any here.

Pigskin fans will get an added kick from watching Marino, who proves a great sport by enduring such lines as "Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell!" In a tiny cameo, Shula almost steals the movies. But this is essentially "The Jim Carrey Show." His zest and energy keep "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" afloat, and the movie is extremely lucky to have him. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective:

A Warner Bros. picture playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Mall 6. Rated PG-13 for vulgar language, sexual situations, mock violence, adult themes. 90 minutes.

by CNB