Fletch Lives

Funny and inventive vehicle for Chevy Chase's hapless and genuinely funny comic creation. Read full review

FLETCH LIVES is significantly funnier than the original ''Fletch,'' probably because it takes itself just a a little bit more seriously...While there are one-liners aplenty, there also is at least the hint of a real mystery. And this time, Chevy Chase seems to have broken loose from the Burt Reynolds syndrome, which involves trying to get laughs with a bad line by making a funny face. [22 March 1989, p.4F]

Fletch Lives exists only to provide a vehicle from which Chase can crack wise, get into ridiculous situations and put on disguises. A lot of this silliness is amusing (some of it very) and not a little of it borderline tasteless.

Reprising the role, Chevy Chase is reliably irreverent as the tangle-footed, many-monikered reporter. Read full review

Whether the lines are funny, tasteless or not-so-funny, Chase keeps popping 'em; whether the scenes are from "48 HRS." or "Beverly Hills Cop," screenwriter Leon Capetanos keeps photocopying them; and director Michael Ritchie (who also directed "Fletch") makes everything move along to a frenetic zydeco soundtrack. Sooner or later, you'll find yourself laughing at something. Unless you're dead, too. Read full review

Fletch Lives feels like TV, but at least it's clever, unpretentious TV. [20 Mar 1989, p.83]