By no means is this a great comedy, but it does at least have the guts to accept no concessions to good taste in pursuit of a laugh. You get the impression the studio simply let Jim Carrey out of his cage and told him to do pretty much whatever he wanted with his Ace Ventura character. He is basically about 90% of what makes this movie work, with the remaining 10% split about equally between Ian McNeice as the guide/interpreter and the monkey, who makes a surprisingly good `sidekick' for Ace.
This is, quite simply, a case of Carrey playing yet another utterly manic, yet basically loveable, goofball character, and you either go for it or you don't. Those who like their comedy built on subtlety, wit, and sophistication will pretty much hate this movie, the rest of us just go along for the ride, watching Carrey mug for the camera with unrestrained abandon. A lot of the comic material is iffy, and without Carrey, this movie would have been a real stinker, but thanks to him we get a number of scenes that are simply priceless; whether he's hiding out in a Buddhist monastery sitting in "meditation" with a gloriously goofy grin on his face while bugs flutter around his head, driving through the jungle at insane speeds while singing the `Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' song, prancing about the posh headquarters building in front of assorted dignitaries making a complete ass out of himself or going berserk when he finds out the sacred animal he's been hired to find is a bat, the ONE creature he absolutely fears and loathes. Let's face it, when it comes to doing outrageous physical comedy (especially involving over the top facial expressions and body gestures) and, in general, behaving like a complete lunatic, Carrey is in a class by himself, and he turns what would otherwise be a lame piece of junk into what could be described as a great `bad' movie, a true guilty pleasure.
6/10
PS The DVD version, while conveniently offering up both the full and wide screen versions, contains a pretty paltry collection of "extra" features, meaning people who enjoy stuff like audio commentaries and deleted scenes will definitely be disappointed.
This is, quite simply, a case of Carrey playing yet another utterly manic, yet basically loveable, goofball character, and you either go for it or you don't. Those who like their comedy built on subtlety, wit, and sophistication will pretty much hate this movie, the rest of us just go along for the ride, watching Carrey mug for the camera with unrestrained abandon. A lot of the comic material is iffy, and without Carrey, this movie would have been a real stinker, but thanks to him we get a number of scenes that are simply priceless; whether he's hiding out in a Buddhist monastery sitting in "meditation" with a gloriously goofy grin on his face while bugs flutter around his head, driving through the jungle at insane speeds while singing the `Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' song, prancing about the posh headquarters building in front of assorted dignitaries making a complete ass out of himself or going berserk when he finds out the sacred animal he's been hired to find is a bat, the ONE creature he absolutely fears and loathes. Let's face it, when it comes to doing outrageous physical comedy (especially involving over the top facial expressions and body gestures) and, in general, behaving like a complete lunatic, Carrey is in a class by himself, and he turns what would otherwise be a lame piece of junk into what could be described as a great `bad' movie, a true guilty pleasure.
6/10
PS The DVD version, while conveniently offering up both the full and wide screen versions, contains a pretty paltry collection of "extra" features, meaning people who enjoy stuff like audio commentaries and deleted scenes will definitely be disappointed.