Fletch
1985 Directed by Michael Ritchie
Synopsis
Meet the only guy who changes his identity more often than his underwear.
Fletch is an ace reporter. While working on a story on Drug sales, he is approached by Alan Stanwyck who wants Fletch to murder him to save him from a lingering cancer death. Fletch begins to nose around and finds irregularities in Stanwyck's past and Underhill's Visa Number.
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It's all well and good having childhood favourites, but they more often than not lose their charm upon rewatching them.
I'm so happy this is still fantastically funny and entertaining.
It is unmistakably eighties, yet its charm, humour and surprisingly engaging plot make sure you won't hold that against it.
And then there's Chase of course. His ability to switch between dry humour with dead pan delivery and the more serious scenes is amazing. He is so smooth and confident in everything he does here, heck, I'd even go so far as to say that he's got swag before it was invented.
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Why don't we go lay on the bed and I'll fill you in?
-FletchNo one will ever accuse Fletch of being a timeless film. The score, hairstyles, dated jokes and pop culture references never let you forget what era this movie was made in, as if the fact that is stars Chevy Chase didn't already do that.
What you get here is basically Chevy Chase doing Chevy Chase, but it's what a lot of comedians did in films from the 70s and 80s. They pretty much just played caricatures of themselves in films and got away with it. With that said I think this is Chase's best film after some of the Vacation movies.
It works because the film…
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Michael Ritchie's Fletch is an endlessly re-watchable -- and quotable -- comedy/action flick with a solid plot adapted from the book of the same name. The kind of movie that I can watch any day of the year (and in any mood) and I'll love it no matter what.
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Film #24 of The Damned December Project
and also film #2 of the Chevy Chase MonthIf Chinatown was made by an American who loved him some National Lampoon and 80s pop music. And instead of casting Jack Nicholson decided to cast Chevy Chase you would get Fletch! It's a very dangerous game to be a nosy, smart ass wannabe detective. Fletch finds this out, although he wins in the end, spoiler alert. This movie has tons of twists and turns, a great soundtrack(great is subject to taste) and is whole lot of fun.
Chevy Chase was made to play 2 roles in life, Clark Griswold(the great American dad) and Fletch(the great American classroom clown). More Bernstein, Fletch is a…
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Finally saw Fletch for the first time and it was great fun, surprised how it has stood the test of time.
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A genuinely funny detective pastiche, owing its considerable success to Chevy Chase on top, dry-as-a-bone form and a screenplay laden with memorable one-liners. It's certainly not timeless as a whole - that blasted synthy opening/closing "Bit by Bit" choon puts paid to that - but the comedy here holds up really well.
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Fletch is the perfect example of a Chevy Chase movie. For every joke that works, there are about 50 that don't - and even those that work aren't exactly laugh-out-loud funny.
I think everyone can agree his modern career (pretty much the last two decades) is just sad. But even before that, he was terribly hit-and-miss. Some early stuff was good, but after that anything that wasn't a "Vacation" movie was just terribly unfunny. His attempts at physical comedy were never amusing, and even less so when he still tries to do it now days. But this is a review of Fletch, so I'll just leave it at this: If you're like me and you still hadn't watched this movie after 25 years, don't bother. It's just Chevy doing his usual unfunny shtick. -
A genuinely funny detective pastiche, owing its considerable success to Chevy Chase on top, dry-as-a-bone form and a screenplay laden with memorable one-liners. It's certainly not timeless as a whole - that blasted synthy opening/closing "Bit by Bit" choon puts paid to that - but the comedy here holds up really well.
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Chevy Chase es una persona graciosísima y la película está completamente dedicada a él, pero no deja de hacerse bastante pesada a ratos.
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Having grown-up with friends quoting lines from this film and catching various scenes from it on TV or VHS over the years, I sat down to watch the film in its entirety for the first time with high expectations. Sadly, it simply isn't funny enough in my honest opinion.
I appreciate I may be missing something as I am a fan of Chevy Chase and many cite this as his best performance. However, comparing FLETCH to a few other 80s comedies I've revisited recently this one hasn't aged well and actually feels rather dull.
The Count's Verdict: For all its supposed subtlety and sarcasm, FLETCH in the end feels like an anaemic NAKED GUN meets BEVERLY HILLS COP wannabe knock-off without the charm of the John Hughes scripted Chase VACATION movies.
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Doesn't get more eighties than this, but that is part of its' charm. I mean, a film starring Chevy in his prime, directed by Michael Ritchie accompanied by a Harold Faltermeyer score? Come on!
(A future rewatch might even up the rating, I suspect.)
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Finally saw Fletch for the first time and it was great fun, surprised how it has stood the test of time.
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Sublime mystery comedy that always entertains. Chase is on brilliant form in probably his finest performance. Not only very funny but a great mystery story too.
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Just Chevy being Chevy, being a bunch of other people.
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Dr. Rosenrosen