Jim Carrey's Career-Changing Comedy Is Tubi's Most-Watched Movie Right Now

Before 1994's "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" debuted, even the people working on the movie weren't convinced it would be any good. At the time, Jim Carrey was essentially an unknown, having only really garnered minimal attention as part of the cast on "In Living Color." What's more, the "Ace Ventura" script was, quite frankly, deranged in a way that without Carrey actually animating the charismatic detective at its center, there was no way it could possibly work. Even during filming, cinematographer Julio Macat thought Carrey was "so over the top" that he was convinced the final product was "gonna be the biggest piece of s*** ever" (via The Ringer). Meanwhile, Carrey himself believed audiences would either love or hate Ace Ventura as a character.

Of course, as we now know, "Ace Ventura" made Jim Carrey a '90s box office phenomenon, kicking off what became a truly historic run for the actor. The same year the movie debuted and made $107.2 million on a $15 million budget, Carrey fronted "The Mask," which brought in a whopping $351.8 million on a $23 million budget, and "Dumb and Dumber," which made $246.4 million on a $16 million budget. He then spent the rest of the '90s absolutely dominating the box office, and continues to steal scenes today in the "Sonic" franchise — all of which couldn't have happened without "Ace Ventura."

With that in mind, it's always nice to remind ourselves of how most of the world first met Jim Carrey, and it seems Tubi is helping facilitate the latest Carrey retrospective as "Ace Ventura" has managed to top the free streamer's charts.

"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" was directed by Tom Shayac, who would go on to deliver more beloved comedy classics in "The Nutty Professor," "Liar Liar," and "Bruce Almighty" (he also directed the worst Kevin Costner movie according to Rotten Tomatoes in 2002's "Dragonfly"). As such, the writer/director was responsible for shaping a part of every '90s kid's childhood, in a similar though not quite as significant a way as Jim Carrey himself. "Ace Ventura" really does contain the seeds of a major cultural shift, and though parts haven't aged as well as many of us who grew up on the movie would have hoped (specifically, the "Finkle is Einhorn" reveal), it still stands as one of the defining comedies of a generation.

Now, the streaming generation is getting a chance to discover vintage Carrey antics as Tubi has added the movie to its expansive catalog. The Fox-owned free streamer has one of the largest libraries of media of all streamers and has been building momentum in recent years, even making number four on /Film's own streaming service rankings and boasting 97 million monthly active users (according to The Hollywood Reporter). As such, "Ace Ventura" hitting the top of the Tubi charts isn't insignificant.

The film arrived on Tubi on May 1, and according to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks viewership numbers across streaming platforms, it has taken some time to break through. The site shows that "Ace Ventura" debuted at number nine on the U.S. charts on May 27, 2025, before rising to the top spot the following day. That's an impressively swift ascent for the Jim Carrey classic, and it will be interesting to see how long it stays at number one.

When "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" debuted in theaters in 1994, it became a surprise hit almost immediately, claiming the number one spot at the box office for four out of its first five weekends. It also launched Jim Carrey's career, gave co-star Courteney Cox a nice little pre-"Friends" bump, and became a phenomenon in and of itself (though Carrey was the real phenomenon of 1994). As such, you'd expect at least a somewhat decent critical response for the movie. Alas, the almighty Tomatometer reveals that reviewers were unimpressed with Carrey's over-the-top antics.

At the time of writing, "Ace Ventura" has a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, which says more about the critics themselves than Rotten Tomatoes (though this is the site that seems to think there are only two "perfect" war movies ever made). Evidently, critics just didn't get what the masses saw in Jim Carrey and his bonkers comedy. Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader summed the film up as "the most obnoxious case of masculine swagger since Andrew Dice Clay, with just a tad of Paul Lynde thrown in for spice," claiming that "Jim Carrey defies you not to bolt for the exit." Meanwhile, the great Roger Ebert found the movie "a long, unfunny slog through an impenetrable plot," but at least Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune praised "Carrey's gonzo star turn" even while he was similarly unimpressed with the film as a whole.

It's sort of funny to think of Ebert furrowing his brow as he tries to discern some sort of plot from a movie that features Jim Carrey talking out of his butt. For whatever reason, these guys just couldn't entertain the idea that it's ok for a movie to be unserious, and their reviews remain the only blot on what is otherwise remembered as one of the greatest comedies of the '90s. While the Tubi charts have previously churned up some questionable films, such as the time Jennifer Garner's thriller flop took over the charts, "Ace Ventura" will always be a welcome revisit.