Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Wednesday, 9 Feb 2005 1:22
Movie Review
From Jerry Lewis to Eddie Murphy, the bottom-line rule of thumb in contemporary American film comedy has been that the more control a performer has over his movies, the less funny – less daring, more self-indulgent – they become. Not so Jim Carrey, whose fourth starring role, in ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS (Warner Bros., PG-13), is his best yet. Unlike so many superstar comics before him, Carrey has retained a raw hunger for The Joke – the killer punchline, the ultimate sight gag – that seems insatiable, and this gives his work a furious, omnivorous energy. Even when the jokes are as corny as this movie’s subtitle is, Carrey regularly squeezes a laugh out of you through sheer force of will.
