Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Parent Guide

Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) is Miami’s foremost (and only) Pet Detective. Whether your dog has run away, your rare albino pigeon has flown the coop, or your ex has wandered off with your pet, Ace is the man to call. So when the mascot for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, a dolphin named Snowflake, is kidnapped, Ace is brought in to crack the case. Unfortunately for Ace, Melissa (Courtney Cox), the executive for the Dolphins responsible for the search, has also called the police. Now facing opposition from Lieutenant Lois Einhorn (Sean Young), Ace only has a few days to find Snowflake before the Super Bowl! Even worse, the closer Ace gets, the more dangerous the case becomes…

Nineties comedies had pretty broad license to get away with crude humor - in a time before the internet, it took a lot more to mobilize serious opposition to offensive comedy. Safe to say, this movie would be impossible to make as-is now. The blatantly negative treatment of LGBTQ people coupled with some jarringly explicit sexual jokes in a film aimed at children just doesn’t fly with a 21^st century audience.

The transphobia is really one of the worst parts of the film. I can’t give out much context without revealing major plot spoilers but take my word for it that it is both violent and almost completely avoidable. Nothing about the premise of this film necessitated a sharp turn into aggressive transphobia - especially in the early 90s, when representation for trans people in film was already extremely limited and largely negative.

Beyond that, the parade of explicit sexual jokes get to be a lot, even for me. Early in the film, our “hero” returns a lady’s dog, and accepts payment in…ahem…sexual favors. A remarkably loud sex scene (in which all of Ventura’s animals sit around the bed, watching bug-eyed) does little to make the film more appropriate for children.

I’m willing to put up with some raunchy jokes in a kids’ movie - take Shrek, for instance. That movie is absolutely littered with adult jokes, but they’re subtle enough that no one under age 12 is likely to pick up on what’s going on. Not so with Ace Ventura. This is an hour and a half of material unsuitable for children, and unpalatable for adults. There are easier and less offensive ways to waste 90 minutes of your life, trust me.