Fletch (1985)

I wasn't sure about watching this film, but am glad that I did.It is not exactly high brow but Chevy Chase's performance was a cut above his average fare. It just shows that inspired material can inspire actors to reach greater heights than perhaps is their norm.I may be focusing on Chevy Chase, but this was basically a one man show. The (reasonably large) supporting cast were all very jolly but had little input than to enhance Chase's character. Some of the younger actors went on to appear in other 80's and 90's films, for example: Geena Davis.Definitely worth a look, but concentration sometimes needed as locations can jump without notice.

One of the Greatest Actors of all-time, Chevy Chase delivers a stupendous performance in 'Fletch'. The legendary actor enacts the title role with the best comic-timing possible & owns the film as if he was born to do so.'Fletch' Synopsis: An investigative newspaper reporter tries to the solve the mystery of a fishy aviation president. 'Fletch' gets it right even on the Writing Front. Andrew Bergman's Screenplay gives Chase unlimited scope for comedy & Chase capitalizes on all the jokes, effortlessly. Also, the thrill element in this investigative-comedy, works tremendously well. Michael Ritchie's Direction is good. Chevy Chase has delivered many memorable performances in his celebrated career, but his performance in 'Fletch', is undoubtedly, his finest to date. He's simply incredible in here. A true comedic performance, that defines slap-stick humor. On the whole, 'Fletch' works because Fletch/Chase does!

You had to be there. No, that is not a figure of speech. You literally had to be there. Before computers and cable. In the age of print. In the age of books. Greg McDonald popped out nowhere with his Fletch series and it caught on like wildfire. Fletch was an investigative reporter, and the books were marketed as mysteries. But there were a lot of mysteries back then. So, you ask (er ... you WOULD ask if you were paying attention) what was there about the Fletch series that made it a runaway bestseller back in the days when mysteries were a dime a dozen and dinosaurs walked the earth? The answer is not the character, not the mystery itself, and not the rich background detail (because there was none). It was the writing. Sparse. Bare. So tight your backteeth ached when you read it. On the cover of the Fletch pocket books -- yes, they sold them in bookstores and drugstores -- the publisher actually reproduced a few sample lines of text from the book simply to "show off" the powerful, simple, prose. As this is written, I don't know how many AMLIT classes around the US have McDonald on the curriculum but I can opine that they all should. His writing was THAT unique. Now the film. Imagine how the Hollywood screenwriter felt when handed this project? Apoplexy comes to mind. So, fearful of losing the gig, he did what every Hollywood screenwriter does when he doesn't understand the material he has ... he turned it into a comedy. Chase was cast and he was just superb ... but superb in a role that never existed in the book! (And less superb in the sequel because by then the novelty was wearing off). It showcases the power of movies in our culture that, to this day, millions of Chase fans think that the Fletch series was actually written that way. Factoid -- one of the oddest, and possibly scariest, things about the film is the scene where Chase puts on the "disguise" of the old man. Because, if you compare the makeup with the way he actually looked some 30 years later -- as in Google Images -- you will find a perfect match.

There is an elite class of comedies which Fletch is at top of the list. Of course, comedy is subjective and relative to each person's humor palate. To those of us who rated this as 10/10 we feel that this movie is pure comic genius. I do scoff at those who criticize the movie as being without a meaningful story. Actually, it's full...simple and full. The undercover reporter (investigating drug trafficking on the local beaches) whom is solicited by an immoral businessman out to fake his death and make a sack a dough. Crooked police chiefs (Joe Don Baker is excellent!), jelly finger doctors (M Emmet Walsh is, as always, perfect in his accurate and subtle portrayal), policeman fund-raisers, steak sandwiches, water buffaloes, reds (not communists) and the list of hilarities goes on and on and on and on and...........