ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1995 Michael John Legeros
(WB)
Directed by Steve Oederkerk
Written by Steve Oederker
Cast Jim Carrey, Simon Callow, Ian McNeice, Maynard Eziashi,
Bob Gunton, Sophie Okonedo
Running Time 90 minutes
MPAA Rating PG-13
Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh (10NOV95)
==
Warner Brothers has scored another marketing coup. The one-two punch was started in the summer, with the release of BATMAN FOREVER. Trailers for ACE VENTURA 2 were bundled with the Bat, ensuring that every Jim Carrey fan in the free world would know about the impending sequel. Carrey went on to win raves as the Riddler and the ever-wise Warner chose Halloween as the release date for the video ($11.99 at Wal-Mart); a mere two weeks before Carrey's return in this marketwise, but misfired comedy.
ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS is a painful reminder of just how grating the rubber-faced comic can be when allowed to perform within an uncontrolled environment. He may have been brilliant under the direction of Joel Schumacher, in BATMAN FOREVER, but, here, left to his own devices, Carrey quickly wears out his welcome. The opening sequence is by far the best--an amusing spoof of CLIFFHANGER, with Ace performing a mountain rescue of a stranded raccoon. (You can guess what happens to Mr. Paws. Hint: it sounds like splat.) The plot quickly shifts to a temple in the Himalayas, and then to not-so-darkest Africa, where Ace is on the case of a missing white bat.
With his hair and limbs both wildly askew, Carrey flies through his routine in about thirty minutes. The rest of the film is just more of the same. Sure, the plot's linear, and the production values solid, but where is the scripted humor to support Carrey's sloppy slathering? Writer and director Steve Oderkerk provides precious few set-ups. Instead, Carrey just mugs away, playing for the camera even when most of it isn't funny. The better gags have been shown in the ads, though a bit with Ace emerging buck-naked from the backside of a mechanical rhino is something to see.
Though an arguable improvement over the original, ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS is still a snooze for anyone over the age of ten. The script is virtually devoid of wit. Tribal MASK jokes? Jerry Lewis cameos? Forget it. If anything, the inexplicable presence of Simon Callow (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) and Bob Gunton (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) suggests that working with Carrey is the classical actor's ultimate challenge. Just how long *can* they keep a straight face?
Skip it.
Grade: D+
--
Michael J. Legeros - Raleigh, NC legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
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