My 100 Worst Movies of the 90's - 44 - Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995;
Morgan Creek Productions)

The first Ace Ventura did not make my list.  While it was bad, I did not find it as stupifying, offensive or annoying as the other films here.  The sequel..? Well, that’s another story.  When Nature Calls begins with the titular pet detective in a Tibetan Monestary, overcoming the loss of a raccoon.  He is brought out of retirement to help find a missing bat in Africa that, if not returned, will result in a bloody tribal war.  

The majority of the movie has Ace offending other cast members as he behaves like an escaped mental patient.  His actions, if performed by anyone in real life, would likely result in his detention and possible death.  He was obnoxious in the first film but here the gloves come off.  He goes out of his mind and throws every single low-brow joke at the audience that it can muster.

This film is the product of Steve Oedekerk, an immensely untalented writer/director who is responsible for some of the worst films of the last twenty years.  Here he relies on bathroom humor, focusing on the absolute bottom of the barrel for desperate gags as he tries to milk the already weak material for all he can.  Jokes drag on a lot longer than they should, sometimes for entire scenes and the few laughs are quickly ruined by the film’s tendency to rub it’s humor in.  This is a bad one, and an example of how some movies just don’t need sequels, especially ones featuring a character as shallow and weak as Ace Ventura.


Jim Carrey, who stars as the lead in this film, is far more talented than his filmography, or this list, may imply. He has shown glimmers of talent but always bounces back to these dumb movies. I just don't understand it myself. Like so many other talented actors he has been damned to play the same character over and over again, and if he attempts to deviate from this path, the fans cry out and the studios go into convulsions until he goes back to his old ways. Do better Mr. Carrey, you were too good for this movie, and far, far above Mr. Popper's Penguins for that matter. (Lol. As if he actually reads this crap.)