Ventura tries to retrieve a valuable albino pigeon, but it is scared off by the Eagles’ mascot Swoop, causing Ventura to attack him in retaliation. Marino and Snowflake are welcomed back during half-time at the Super Bowl in a match between the Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles. Einhorn is arrested by the police after attacking Ventura, and Finkle’s ring is identified to have a missing stone. This confirms that Finkle murdered Podacter after the latter had discovered Finkle’s secret. Ventura strips Einhorn of his clothes to expose his failure to completely change her sex, but fails until Marino points out a bulge in the back of his underwear, actually Finkle’s unchanged privates hidden out of view. Melissa and Ventura’s friend, police officer Emilio, stage a hostage situation to get the police to listen to Ventura.
Einhorn calls the police, framing Ventura for the kidnappings. On Super Bowl Sunday, Ventura follows Einhorn to an abandoned yacht storage facility where she has Marino and Snowflake held hostage. Ventura realises that Einhorn is in fact Finkle: Finkle used the fact that the actual Einhorn was missing and presumed dead (with no body found), and took on her identity, had surgery to change his gender, and began a career with the Miami Police Department to eventually get revenge on Marino and the Dolphins. Ventura and Melissa go to the mental hospital, the former posing as a potential patient, where he uncovers a newspaper article in Finkle’s possessions about a missing hiker named Lois Einhorn. Einhorn compliments Ventura and kisses him. He also theorises that Finkle murdered Podacter. Ventura visits Einhorn, pitching his theory that Finkle kidnapped both Marino and Snowflake in an act of revenge, since the dolphin has been given Finkle's old team number and a goal trick to boot. Marino is kidnapped himself shortly after. Visiting Finkle’s parents, Ventura learns that Finkle fully blames Dan Marino for the end of his career, and was subsequently committed to a mental hospital for homicidal tendencies. Finkle missed the field goal kick at the end of Super Bowl XVII, which cost the Dolphins the championship, ruining his career. Ventura comes across an old photograph of the football team, discovering an unfamiliar player named Ray Finkle, who was only added in during midseason. Einhorn declares it a suicide, but Ventura proves it to have been murder. Roger Podacter, the team’s head of operations, mysteriously dies after falling from his apartment balcony. However, he discovers all of the team members’ rings are intact. Ruling out Camp, Ventura concludes that a member of the 1984 Miami Dolphins line-up may have kidnapped Snowflake, and will be able to identify the culprit by their rings. Camp apologises, shaking Ventura’s hand, with his hand wearing a ring with an amber stone identical to the one Ventura found. Ventura and Melissa sneak in to Camp’s party, Ventura mistakes a shark for Snowflake and is nearly eaten. Ace suspects a billionaire, Ronald Camp, may have stolen Snowflake. Searching Snowflake’s tank for clues, Ventura finds a rare triangular-cut, orange amber stone, which he recognizes as a part of a 1984 AFC Championship ring. Melissa Robinson, the Dolphins’ chief publicist, hires Ventura to find Snowflake. Two weeks before the Miami Dolphins are to play in the Super Bowl, their mascot, a bottlenose dolphin named Snowflake, is kidnapped. However, he struggles to pay his rent, and is often mocked by the Miami Police Department, led by Lieutenant Lois Einhorn, who finds Ventura insufferable.
In addition to launching Carrey's film career, it also spawned the sequel film Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), the animated TV series Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (three seasons, 1995–2000), and later, the direct-to-video spin-off Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009).Īce Ventura is an eccentric, and very unorthodox, Miami-based private detective who specializes in retrieving tame or captive animals. Despite receiving generally unfavorable reviews from critics, it emerged as a big box office hit, grossing $107.2 million worldwide. The film was produced on a budget of $15 million. The film features a cameo appearance from death metal band Cannibal Corpse. The film co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, Sean Young and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino. Bernstein and Bob Israel (ultimately a co-producer for the film) developed the project for almost six years. The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, who wrote the screenplay with Carrey and Jack Bernstein. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls External links IMDb pageĪce Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 American comedy film starring Jim Carrey, who plays Ace Ventura, an animal detective who is tasked with finding an abducted dolphin who is the mascot of the US football team Miami Dolphins.