Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Genre

Comedy

Director

Tom Shadyac

Country

USA

Cast

Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean young, Tone Lōc, John Capodice, Dan Marino, Uwe von Schamann, Noble Willingham, Troy Evans, Raynor Scheine, Udo Kier, Frank Adonis, Tiny Ron, David Margulies, Bill Zuckert, Alice Drummond, Rebecca Ferratti, Mark Margolis, Randall "Tex" Cobb

Storyline

When the Miami Dolphins' aquatic mascot goes missing just before the Superbowl, Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey), a goofy detective specializing in animals, is put on the case.

Opinion

1994, what a year. Besides from bringing me to the world, and giving us masterpieces such as Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, and The Shawshank Redemption, it gave us some of Jim Carrey's finest comedies.

Alllllrighty then... Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a silly, and entertaining comedy that had me laughing the whole way through. 

The plot isn't the best one out there, nor it's clever, yet it has a brilliant twist, and the pet detective concept is very interesting, and, most important, well portrayed. However, the story is quite compelling and worthy of a detective film.

Ace Ventura is one of the most odd and bizarre characters I've seen on screen, and I love him. His investigation does nothing but show us all this eccentricities and his extravagant investigative methods, and the way he proves others wrong making them look like idiots while he looked like an idiot in the whole process is just wonderful.

The acting isn't the best here, but you don't really need much when you have Jim Carrey: he brought such an enthusiasm to his hilarious character and to the film, he makes everything else disappear. If this film was just an excuse for him to be silly, I gotta be honest, well played! It's impossible not to laugh at his jokes, weird sense of humour and unnatural facial expressions. Comic genius hands down.

Quotes
Ace Ventura: If I'm not back in five minutes... just wait longer.

Speed (1994)

Genre

Action | Crime | Thriller

Director

Jan de Bont

Country

United States

Cast

Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, Jeff Daniels, Alan Ruck, Glenn Plummer, Richard Lineback, Beth Grant, Hawthorne James, Richard Schiff, Carlos Carrasco, David Kriegel, Natsuko Ohama, Daniel Villarreal

Plot

Following the attempt of blowing up an elevator full of hostages, foiled by Los Angeles SWAT, bomber terrorist Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) rigs a bomb to a LA city bus. The stipulation is: once armed, the bus must stay about 50 mph to keep from exploding. Also if LAPD Officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) tries to unload any passengers off, Payne will detonate it.

Jack's superior, Lt. McMahon (Joe Morton), and Jack's partner, Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels), supports Jack helping him try to defuse the bomb. 

Opinion

I thought this film got so much love because it is when the male audience first meet Sandra Bullock. Now I see the other reasons. Speed is a terrific, tense and energetic action/thriller film. Even better than the Die Hard series, with the overrated Bruce Willis. Debutant director Jan de Bont, former director of photography, did a great job.

Good performances from Keanu Reeves as Jack Traven and Dennis Hopper as Howard Payne. The performance from Sandra Bullock as Annie stands out.

Quotes

Howard Payne: Pop quiz, hotshot. There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?

Rating

8.0/10

Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Genre

Comedy

Directors

Peter Farrelly | Bobby Farrelly

Country

United States

Cast

Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Victoria Rowell, Hank Brandt, Teri Garr, Felton Perry, Brad Lockerman, Cam Neely, Harland Williams, Lin Shaye

Plot

Providence, Rhode Island. Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey), a dumb limo driver, shares the apartment with his friend Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels), a dumb dog groomer. They are saving up their money to open a pet store called "I Got Worms".

On day Lloyd falls in love with Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), a woman he is driving to the airport, and after she intentionally leaves a briefcase in the terminal, he retrieves it and tries to return it to her, but her Aspen-bound plane has already departed.

Fired from his job, Lloyd returns to his apartment and learns that Harry has also been fired. Two criminals, Mental (Mike Starr) and J.P. Shay (Karen Duffy), which were supposed to collect the briefcase, follow Lloyd home, and mistaking them for debt collectors, Lloyd and Harry flee the apartment and return later to find that Mental and Shay have decapitated Harry's parakeet. Upset about their situation, Lloyd suggests they head to Aspen to find Mary and return the briefcase. At first Harry refuses but soon sees reason and the pair soon head out to Aspen in Harry's dog-like van. 

Opinion

Dumb and Dumber is a stupid but hilarious and enjoyable comedy. Lloyd and Harry are definitely the most dumbest people on earth, but it's not easy to figure out which one is the dumb and which one is the dumber. Despite its stupidity, this film has much to teach about a topic: friendship.

Its main actors are able to elevate the film: Jim Carrey, exhilarant as always, fits perfectly in Lloyd's shoes, and Jeff Daniels carries himself admirably.

Quotes

Lloyd Christmas: We got no food, we got no jobs... our PETS' HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!

Rating

7.0/10

Forrest Gump (1994)

Genre

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Director 

Robert Zemeckis

Country

United States

Cast

Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field, Mykelti Williamson, Haley Joel Osment, Michael Conner Humphreys, Hanna R. Hall, Mary Ellen Trainor, Geoffrey Blake, Sonny Shroyer, Sam Anderson, Afemo Omilami, Marlena Smalls, Siobhan Fallon, Tiffany Salerno, Marla Sucharetza, Michael Jace, Michael Burgess, Dick Cavett

Plot

Born and raised in the fictional town of Greenbow in Alabama, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a guy with a sub-normal IQ, discusses his life with a stranger waiting for the bus. Despite his IQ, Forrest leads a charmed life, with a ringside seat for many of the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th Century: he teaches Elvis Presley to dance, becomes a football star, meets John F. Kennedy, serves with honor in Vietnam, meets Lyndon Johnson, speaks at the anti-war rally at the Washington Monument, hangs out with the Yippies, defeats the Chinese national team in table tennis, meets Richard Nixon, discovers the break-in at the Watergate, opens a shrimping company, a decides to run back and forth across the country for several years.

Opinion

Forrest Gump is a masterpiece. It involves the main events in recent American history, analyzing themes such as family violence, racial or disability discriminations, pointlessness of war, danger of Aids and drugs, but also love and friendship. 

The performances of Tom Hanks (Academy Award winner for Best Actor), Gary Sinise (Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor), Mykelti Williamson and Robin Wright are worthy.

Quotes

Forrest Gump: My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

Forrest Gump: Stupid is as stupid does.

Rating

10/10