Courteney Cox Online

Character: Melissa

Directed by: Tom Shadyac

Written by: Jack Bernstein, Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey

Cast Members: Jim Carrey, Sean Young

Release date: February 4, 1994

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 1h 26m

A goofy detective specializing in animals goes in search of the missing mascot of the Miami Dolphins.

Memorable Quotes

Melissa: Hi, I’m Melissa Robinson.
Ace Ventura: Pleasure to meet you.
Melissa: Did you have any trouble getting in?
Ace Ventura: No, the guy with the rubber glove was surprisingly gentle.

Melissa: You know, you’re just mad because your stupid little pebble theory didn’t work out and you don’t know how to express your anger.
Ace Ventura: Oh yeah? And you’re ugly.

Melissa: You know what? I’m not even going to talk to you. Would you please leave.
Ace Ventura: Why? So you can beat him?
[talking about Melissa’s dog]
Ace Ventura: Fatty.
Melissa: You’re unbelievable. Hiring you was the biggest mistake I ever made.
Ace Ventura: Well, why don’t you cry about it. Saddlebags.

Trivia

• “Shady Acres Mental Hospital” is named for director Tom Shadyac.
• Lauren Holly screen-tested for the female lead role, but turned it down.
• A note found in Lt. Einhorn’s desk is dated January 17, which is also Jim Carrey’s birthday.
• Jim Carrey insisted on having his favorite band, Cannibal Corpse, perform in the movie. The song “Hammer Smashed Face” is taken from their third album “Tomb of the Mutilated”.
• The real final score of Super Bowl XIX (1985) was San Francisco 38, Miami 16. The game footage of ‘Ray Finkle’ used in the film is actually a 1984 clip of Dolphins kicker Uwe von Schamann.
• Ace’s car is a 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
• Courteney Cox’s character, Melissa Robinson, was named after original writer Jack Bernstein’s daughter Melissa.
• The voice of Ace Ventura and the manner in which he speaks, was added by Jim Carrey only after several readings of the script. The voice was something Carrey used in his stand up routine. The “All righty then” was the catch phrase of one of his stand up characters and after the lines from the script weren’t feeling right, he added it to the script and read through it again using that voice for all the lines. It was such an improvement that it became the main Ace Ventura personality trait.
• The entire scene where Ace Ventura claims to be expert dolphin trainer Heinz Getwellvet was originally cut out of the theatrical release. It was added back in when the movie was released on videotape in June 1994, and was advertised as “additional footage not seen in theaters”.
• Jim Carrey was paid $350,000 for his appearance in the film.
• The tabloid magazine in Ace’s apartment is called the “National Intruder.”
• John Capodice’s character, Sgt. Aguado, named after producer Ken Aguado.
• Jim Carrey uses the same voice and mannerisms for his “In Living Color” sketch character, Overly Confident Gay Man, as he did for Ace Ventura. In one of the sketches, he even uses the “Alrighty Then” phrase.
• Jim Carrey has starred in five films that have had sequels or prequels: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), The Mask (1994), Dumb & Dumber (1994), Batman Forever (1995) and Bruce Almighty (2003), but this is the only sequel in which he himself appears and reprises his role.
• Woodstock’s nickname for Ace Ventura is “St. Francis”. This is in reference to St. Francis of Assisi, the Catholic patron saint of animals.
• ‘Carrie-Anne Moss’ and Téa Leoni were one of the actresses considered for the role of Melissa Robinson.