Fletch & Fletch Lives (Review)

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Fletch – like Beverly Hills Cop before it – is first and foremost an action flick. It just so happens that the leading man is also an uncommonly amusing personally capable of turning a meaningless exposition sequence into an endlessly shared viral video moment.

Fletch (Chevy Chase) is an investigative reporter working a story about a drug dealing syndicate using a sleepy beach as a place to conduct illicit transactions. In full homeless guy attire Fletch is approached by a well to do businessman with a proposition; that Fletch kill a total stranger. The twist being, the well to do businessman requesting the hit, is also the man to be killed.

Fletch accepts the task but immediately sets to uncovering the real reason behind the request. This takes him across many states and leads to interactions with many other strangers. This is where Chevy Chase shines. Every meeting and discussion has him constantly riffing, playing the colour man to their oblivious straight person. The difference here between Chase and Eddie Murphy though, is that where Eddie is loud mouthed and incessant, Chase remains himself the straight man, delivering short pithy and deadpan one liners, usually arriving after what should be the scene’s last line.

Fletch is a fine investigator and possessing of a sharp analytical mind, but it is the quips that fill out the script. In reality with a different leading man Fletch would still likely have become a very fine film bearing many of the same traits as this one, but it likely wouldn’t have stood the test of time as this version has.

Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. Never transcendent but constantly funny, Fletch and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane are brothers from another mother. One is easier to watch with your mum in the room though…

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Fletch Lives

It takes only a few minutes to turn Fletch’s life upside down. That’s how long it takes after learning of receiving an expansive estate in the Deep South via an inheritance for Fletch to quit his job, pack his shit and move.

After 20 minutes of race and redneck jokes that simply couldn’t fly today, Fletch realises that this is more than a lucky inheritance, so it’s back to silly characters and wacky disguises – all of them who make him clearly look like Chevy Chase in a bad wig and/or glasses.

This is all very Beverly Hills Cop yet again, from the fish out of water, the music and especially the lazy finale set in the theme park. Why, if you must copy Beverly Hills Cop, would you pick BHC 3?

This time around Chevy’s half murmured throwaway lines are drowned out by the sense that this is a pale replica of what came before. There’s just too many embarrassingly dumb scenes for Fletch to show signs of real life here.

Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. More of the same, but also much less.

 

About OGR

While I try to throw a joke or two into proceedings when I can all of the opinions presented in my reviews are genuine. I don't expect that all will agree with my thoughts at all times nor would it be any fun if you did, so don't be shy in telling me where you think I went wrong... and hopefully if you think I got it right for once. Don't be shy, half the fun is in the conversation after the movie.
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