Ace Ventura, an eccentric and offbeat private detective in Miami, is known for rescuing tame or captive animals. Despite struggles with rent and constant mockery from the Miami Police Department, led by Lieutenant Lois Einhorn, Ventura is hired by Melissa Robinson, the Miami Dolphins‘ publicist, to find their kidnapped mascot, Bottlenose dolphin Snowflake, who was stolen just weeks before the upcoming Super Bowl.

Investigating the kidnapping, Ventura finds a rare amber stone in Snowflake’s tank, leading him to suspect billionaire Ronald Camp, a collector of exotic animals. However, after sneaking into Camp’s party and facing a dangerous encounter with a shark, Ventura rules out Camp as the stone in his ring matches the one found but is not missing. Ventura then theorizes that the stone is from a 1984 AFC Championship ring, suggesting a member of the 1984 Dolphins as the culprit, but after investigating all the teammates, he finds all the rings are intact.

Roger Podacter, the Dolphins’ head of operations, dies mysteriously, and while the police believe it was suicide, Ventura proves it was actually murder. His investigation leads him to Ray Finkle, a disgraced former Dolphins placekicker who missed the potentially game-winning kick in the 1984 Super Bowl and blamed quarterback Dan Marino for it. Ventura also learns that Finkle had been committed for homicidal tendencies shortly after the Dolphins released him following the Super Bowl loss. With Marino’s subsequent kidnapping, Ventura suspects Finkle is seeking revenge.

Disguised as a patient at a psychiatric facility, Ventura comes across a newspaper clipping with an article on Einhorn, described as a missing hiker. He contacted Emilio to snoop around for evidence and found a love letter to Einhorn from Podactor, evidence that Einhorn/Finkle killed him. With help from the animals in his apartment, Ventura discovers that Einhorn is actually Finkle in a transgender disguise. On the day of the game, Ventura confronts Einhorn at a yacht storage facility, holding Marino and Snowflake hostage. In a dramatic revelation, Ventura exposes Einhorn as Finkle, and Podacter’s killer, leading to his arrest after a physical altercation.

The climax unfolds at the Super Bowl’s halftime, where Marino and Snowflake are celebrated, and Ventura is hailed as a hero on the jumbotron. The event is capped off by Ventura’s scuffle with the Philadelphia Eagles‘ mascot Swoop over a rare pigeon, earning him a standing ovation.