Fletch

Rating:
Summary: The definitive Chevy Chase flick
Review: Heed the warnings above: if you don't like Chevy, this may not be the film for you. Chase strolls obnoxiously through this film about an undercover reporter who finds himself propositioned to murder a wealthy cancer victim. The plot is surprisingly deep for a comedy and could probably work in a drama had it been explored further. The draw of the film is Chase's performance of the arrogant, wise-ass reporter who never met a disguise he didn't like. Many, many funny moments and too many throw-away lines to count. If you don't consider yourself a Chase fan, give it a rental. Many non-believers have been converted by Fletch.

PS - Avoid "Fletch Lives." Ranks up there with Caddyshack 2 as one of the worst sequels ever.

Rating:
Summary: Chevy Chase at his best! Fletch in widescreen! :)
Review: I have loved this movie since it opened and was thrilled to get it on DVD. I was totally impressed with the DVD transfer! Faltermeyer's score pounds out with unmistakeable 80's synth sound - even better than on laserdisc. And to finally see Fletch in widescreen was a treat as well. I know there are those who hate it, but I have always been in that growing minority that loves to see films the way the director intended us to see them rather than have 1/3 of the picture cut out for us to fit our TV screen. If you are a Chevy fan, this is a GREAT DVD!

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: Looking for a movie to rent, I saw this one and said, Oh a Chevie Chase movie, great I love them. But I have to say I got so boreeeeeed. I mean, I love the Vacation series, and Three Amigos, those are hilarious movie. But this is just so damn boring, I would never recomend you buying this at all. This movie is very slow, and is very un-funny.


Rating:
Summary: Fletch is Fetch!
Review: The title journalist, Fletch, has been called the role that Chevy Chase was so totally born to play, and not without good reason. Fletch's misadventures are totally suspenseful and so totally hilarious at the same time. While hanging out on a California beach to learn stories from drug informants, Fletch meets a mysterious man with a totally unusual request. The man asks Fletch to murder him. Yes, that's right. Must be a mad man, you might think, until he makes his story sound totally believable. The man says he is dying from bone cancer and has only terrible suffering to look forward to for the remainder of his totally doomed life. He would be ready to kill himself and end his suffering, he says, except suicide would prevent his family from collecting his life insurance. So that is why he propositions Fletch to do the job. Fletch says yes, but goes on to proceed with skepticism, which is totally called-for as it turns out. Fletch goes through a series of misadventures as he visits the man's doctor to try to see if his grim prognosis is verifiable. More misadventures ensue as Fletch goes on to crash the man's country club, posing under a fictitious name that he improvises as he goes. When a woman there finds his assumed name curious and inquires of its nationally, Fletch replies that it is "Scotch-Romanian", part of his totally typical manner of improvising. Funny interludes occur as Fletch deals in a totally creative way with his ex-wife's divorce lawyer. And there are more twists and turns to his adventures that have him impersonating police officers, among other things, in the process of unraveling the truth about the man who has put a hit on himself, not to mention other secrets that Fletch uncovers in the process. I saw this with my three best friends, and a totally good time was had by all. Karen found it exciting and funny, even though we totally had to explain some parts to her. Cady found it a totally unique experience like nothing she'd seen before, here, in Africa, or anywhere in between. And even Regina took time off from her usual poutiness to lighten up and enjoy. This movie is just SO fetch, and totally to be recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Best Chevy Chase Movie, period.
Review: Waiter: You a member of the club senor? Fletch: No I'm not I'm with the Underhills. Waiter: They already left senor? Fletch: That's all right, he'll be back, he went out for his urinalysis. Waiter: Would you like to order something senor I'll put it on the Underhill's bill? Fletch: Ahh, very good, I'll have a bloody mary, a steak sandwich, and..... a steak sandwich. Waiter: Thank you very much senor. Fletch: It's the nicest place...

If Chevy had a bright spot in his career, this is certainly one of them. Every line, every minute, all ad libbed, no script, no idea what he will say next, just Chevy doing what he does best. Christmas vacation, Vacation, CaddyShack, no comparison to the original Fletch. If you've never seen this movie, you absolutely have to and considering it's from 1985, where have you been? I think I've seen this movie 100 times and I think I'll watch it 100 more before I go the way of the dodo. If you're having a bad day at work, lost your job, lost a girlfriend or boyfriend or just want to smile, pop this DVD in and start laughing from start to finish. If you don't even chuckle while watching this zany farce, you might need mental help for sense of humor submission.

What a great moment in movie history when the Doctor asks Fletch to "drop your shorts and bend over Mister Babar" Moments later you hear Chevy hurl out the song "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOON River! Thank you doc, you ever serve time? Doctor: Breathe easy... Fletch: "you using the whole fist doc?"

Other good notables are the sweet acting of Tim Mattheson and Genna Davis. Tim Mattheson, most known for his lead role as head fraternity brother (Otter) in Animal House, does a 180 and tries for the evil husband with a financial darkside. This movie also makes for some great pickup lines for the single males. Try this one when you see a beautiful woman in a towel. "Can I borrow your towel for a sec, my car just hit a water buffalo." Cherish Fletch forever and enjoy Chevy when he knew how to make people laugh.

Rating:
Summary: Retch
Review: The movie is just plain bad, not horrendously so. Chevy Chase has less talent then Anna Kournikova. What plummets this to One Star is that it somehow has gained cult status. Maybe the government is putting doping agents in our water, for whatever reason hundreds or more think this is legendary cinema. They are wrong and I am right.

Rating:
Summary: Worth owning
Review: I have a somewhat modified rating system. There are movies that suck; those are one star. There are mediocre movies; those get two stars. There are good movies; those get three stars. There are movies which you watch and suspect you'll watch again; those get four. And then, of course, there's the movies you watch for the first time -- and then, on the way home, still laughing, go to the store, buy, wake up your wife, and force her to watch, but of course she doesn't really get it, and is mostly irritated at you, but you don't regret it because man, it's really just that funny, and you skip work the next day and watch it a couple more times, and by the end of the week you and all of your buddies telling a waiter "I'll have a steak sandwich and... a steak sandwich" and giggling. Monty Python's "Holy Grail" is the, well, the grail shaped beacon of these movies; "A Fish Called Wanda", perhaps "There's Something About Mary." These are comedies with staying power; humor which uses more than shock and vulgarity, motivated by the lunacy of the human condition.

If you haven't seen "Fletch", well, frankly, I'm jealous. I'll never get to see it for the first time again, and there just aren't that many treasures like this out there.

And if you have seen it, you know you want to see it again, and you'll end up watching enough times to justify the cost, and, what the heck. Charge it to the Underhills.