Drop Dead Fred

Rating:
Summary: Great fun!
Review: It's addictive. Realizing that I had been renting "Drop Dead Fred" at least once a year since its release, I decided to purchase my own copy. No regrets. This film never fails to crack me up. Rik Mayall's energetic performance as Drop Dead Fred is always a treat to watch. Phoebe Cates is well cast as DDF's 'real life' friend Elizabeth. There are some terrific moments which showcase Cates' knack for physical comedy. An all star supporting cast includes Carrie Fisher, Marsha Mason and Bridget Fonda. Fonda's roll is very small. This film was made prior to her star status which makes her scene all the more amusing to watch. While "Drop Dead Fred" leans more toward the silly side, the film also has some weight to it. Lurking behind the fun and mayhem is the main character's struggle to overcome serious, psychological trauma. "Drop Dead Fred" is a timeless treasure. Are you and your 'imaginary' friend in the market for a good 'Pants Pie' recipe? Drop Dead Fred has it, along with the recipe for fun. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Adorable and Funny!
Review: I wouldn't really call Drop Dead Fred a classic but I did think it was pretty darn funny and cute and I really enjoyed watching it so I bought the video and if this movie ever comes out on DVD I think I just may buy it because I prefer DVDs. There is bathroom humor in this movie that will probably offend sensitive viewers, you know the mamby pamby types who get upset, faint and need to fan themselves if they hear someone burp. Bathroom humor doesn't really bother me at all so I was fine with it. Phoebe Cates is great in this movie as Elizabeth and Ashley Peldon from The TV show the Mommies and The Goldie Hawn movie Decieved was very good in her brief part playing Elizabeth when she was a little girl. Marsha Mason was very good as Elizabeth's mother Polly , Carrie Fisher was very good as Elizabeth's friend Janie and Rik Mayall was absolutely great as Fred, he made the movie so hilariously fun. I think the uptight critics need to learn how to sit relax and let themselves enjoy a silly movie and stop trying to be so serious all the time.

Rating:
Summary: My Ideal Invisible Friend
Review: This film is so funny it makes me cry. I watched this for the first time as a teenager and it made me wish I had a invisible friend just like Drop Dead Fred. It's jokes are funny, Rick Myall is fantastic as Fred and as I am older now I never realised just how simillar my mother is to Elizabeth's.
This film is a must see for all however I myself take due care not to let my children see this film at a very young age as I would hate to see "MOTHER SUCKS" written on my carpet.

Rating:
Summary: One of the funniest movies I've ever seen!
Review: I saw Drop Dead Fred when I was about 5 years old, and I didn't quite understand a lot of it. I just loved to watch Fred get his head smashed in the fridge and cut Lizzie's hair on one side. My tape got buried in the closet for about 7 years and then on a whim one day when I was twelve (I am now 13), I just decided that I wanted to watch that movie. I dug it out of the closet, put it in the VCR, and I was laughing for the rest of the evening. It was even funnier because I could understand a lot more of the jokes and the dialogue. Drop Dead Fred is a movie for people who are still young at heart and it is especially enjoyable for those of us who have actually had imaginary friends. (I still have an imaginary friend!) Every once in a while I get the urge to watch this movie and I enjoy it every time I do.

Rating:
Summary: Classic comedy
Review: I've been watching "Drop Dead Fred" for years and it's still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Everybody does a good job acting and it has some of the funniest sequences of any movie ever. Phoebe Cates used to have an imaginary friend, but now she's grown up. All of a sudden he comes back and she's the only one that can see him. However, she is more mature now, so she tries to ignore him and even make him go away, but she realizes she still feels like a kid sometimes and wants her imaginary friend to stay around.

"Drop Dead Fred" is one of the best comedy films ever and you'll never get tired of watching it. It's one of the few movies that will never get old. If you like comedy movies, this is one you can't miss.

Rating:
Summary: It's time to play burglars!
Review: This is a classic comedy that seems to have been forgotten about. It did well when it came out in 1991. I remember seeing it. I still love it all these years later. The only thing that seems dated is the wardrobe of Phoebe Cates. She dresses like a complete geek. This isn't a realistic comedy, or maybe it is; Lizzie may be schizophrenic. Not to be taken seriously, this is a FUN movie and highly recommended. I wish the DVD was in widescreen format though. Isn't that one of the main reasons we have DVDs?

Rating:
Summary: An uproariously hilarious movie!
Review: When Elizabeth (played by Phoebe Cates) finds her marriage to a manipulative, two-timing husband (Tim Matheson) on the rocks, to her chagrin, her mother moves her back home and takes control of her life. But then she makes a strange discovery, in the back of her old closet is her old jack-in-the-box, covered in the tape her mother had put there to lock in her imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred. Opening the tape, who should pop out? Not jack, but Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall)!

Fred is stark raving mad, and out to cause as much mayhem as possible, but no one can see him but Elizabeth, so who still gets the blame after all these years? But Fred is back, because Elizabeth is terribly unhappy. In his own weird and wacky way, he is out to set Elizabeth on the right track, and everyone needs a friend.

This is a very funny movie, an uproariously hilarious movie! Rik Mayall (Rick from The Young Ones) does a great job of taking Fred over the top, and off to the outer reaches of wackiness. His gross humor (lots of doggy-do, nose-picking, hits to the head, and so forth) may turn some off, but is sure to please any connoisseur of craziness.

Now, is this a family-friendly movie? Well, not exactly, there are some off-color remarks and adult innuendo, but not much. The big problem is that there is one scene where you see a naked man from behind. But, other than that it is pretty good. I showed it to my kids, and they loved it. I liked that it also had a lesson of finding happiness inside yourself.

So, as for my family and I, we loved this movie, and highly recommend it to you!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Laughter
Review: This movie is for the whole family to see. It brings imagination and adventure to ones heart and mind. Being a child of fifteen years old I still love this movie. And I seen it when it first came out.

Rating:
Summary: Good range of humorous styles, timeless "classic"
Review: OK, OK, maybe not a classic, but it gets the job done! I am a professional woman, mother of 3, whose older children (now in college) loved this movie when they were younger, and now my youngest (13) begs me to rent this movie every once in awhile, as it has been a favorite of hers for years too.

Now it is out on DVD, and as a birthday gift I decided to BUY the DVD from Amazon.com when I found it was available. The girls at the sleepover party will love it as much as my daughter does, I am sure. She has been trying to describe it to them, most of them have never seen it.

As a mom I remember cringing the first time I watched it with my kids, shuddering at what might be the outcome if my kids decided to invent a playful, spontaneous, willful, clownish, annoying, but lovable imaginary friend like Drop Dead Fred. The antics he pulls are outrageous, but I found myself laughing along with the kids, it does get to you.

Phoebe Cates is perfect in the role of whimsical Lizzie, somewhat caught between child and adult roles, trying to be a good wife, but eventually estranged from her dolt of a boorish, cheating husband (Tim Matheson plays the schmuck hubby to the hilt). The pain she endures from the broken relationship brings back the comfort of her childhood imaginary friend Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall is so any and incredible, perfect for the role), who was there when she was young to soothe her bruised ego when her overbearing and controlling mother (Marsha Mason plays this role very effectively!!) drives her husband away when Lizzie was young, and Lizzie is targeted as the reason. As the story unfolds you can see Drop Dead Fred coming out as the brave side of Lizzie struggling to not buckle under the enormous hurt and pressure of the mother-then-husband queue of dictatorial people in her life. Lizzie's mom becomes more controlling in her attempt to help Lizzie win her husband back. You find youself cheering Lizzie and Drop Dead Fred on, even though he sometimes makes a mess of things.

But is he just an imaginary friend, or is he real? Maybe he is, you will decide at the end of the film.

This is a film best watched by older kids in a group, or younger children with a parent present to help answer questions and sort things out, just in case an impressionable youngster has trouble with any reality aspects.

All in all, the film is wonderful entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: A Friend In Need
Review: I love this film ever since I was younger. I remember my father who had passed away, went and took me to this movie, and I had always wanted a realistic imaginary friend like Fred (played by Rik Mayall). This movie has a lot of fun memories for me. Phoebe Cates plays a now adult Lizzie who is still struggling against standing up for herself against her mom and now husband. You get to see how her and Fred hook up and why he's there in flashbacks to her childhood. To help her have fun during the rough times in her when she was little and until she's happy and standing on her own as an adult. Because that's what an imaginary friend does he/she let's you escape from realities.

Some may not get this movie. But it is a campy, classic, comedy for about young adults to adults. If you have a good sense of humor you'll get this film and it's for those who remember having imaginary friends :).

I was a little disappointed with the DVD. I was expecting commentary, and some other special extra's not too much. But it's an okay DVD. But I would give the movie itself a B+ and the DVD a C+.