Fletch

Universal Pictures | Release Date: May 31, 1985

7.4	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Ratings

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DawdlingPoetNov 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Fletch is an entertaining comedy crime drama about a fast talker, thus with some witty, male banter-style dialogue. Themes covered include selfishness/greed, assassination and police corruption. I felt that it was one of those films in which you have to keep a close eye on it to fully follow whats going on, which is partly due to the almost constant, fast chatty dialogue and obviously the faster pace scenes. As well as the comedic dialogue, there is also some physical, slapstick style comedy present - some of this was funnier than others. Its a film which dates from the 1980s and I felt it did seem fairly dated but then of course thats to be expected. I find it amusing almost in itself watching people using the old computers of the time, thinking that what is now clearly very much old hat was, at the time, much more like cutting edge!.

I felt there was an (if but small) element of sexism present in Irwin Fletcher. He flirts with various people and there is a definite cheesiness to this but thats hardly particularly surprising, given that Chevy Chase plays the main character. He is quite a cocky, self assured character with somewhat of a grandiose ego (a real wise-guy type) hence its pretty entertaining when things don't go his way. Other cast members include Joe Don Baker as Chief Jerry Karlin, a man who isn't afraid to say what he thinks and Tim Matheson as Alan Stanwyck. Geena Davis also appears as a character called Larry.

The music score very much dates this, heavily featuring electronic style tracks, from uptempo pieces to more midtempo ones, there's a lot of muzack style pieces played in the background. Its all quite cheesy, think of the sort of music played during American TV shows of the time.

I felt that this film was somehow trying to be a bit like Lethal Weapon, only with the one detective inspector equivalent, or if not that then certainly a film centering around a slightly less adept (than he thinks he is) unofficial P.I. type, out on the streets after a good few bucks. If you didn't imagine a deep voice reading that last sentence back to you a-la the narration heard when viewing trailers for upcoming films at a local cinema, then you potentially missed the point but hopefully you understand where I'm coming from. I also noted that the ocassional voice over was done in quite a stoney tone of voice and it even reminded me somewhat of the (much funnier, may I add) Leslie Nielson comedy series of Naked Gun films.

Overall I enjoyed the film as a somewhat amusing and entertaining watch. Its pretty run of the mill really but its watchable none the less. I found some aspects of it amusing, one or two bits were a little cliche and/or cheesy but one things for sure - this is very much a 1980s crime comedy film, there's no doubt about that. As I say, its hardly a great film but its not awful either, hence my 3 star rating. I can see why some people might look up at a character like Irwin, wishing to be as cool and self assured as him, while I don't think much of such people - cocky egotists, hmmm, that doesn't appeal to me but thats a whole other dicussion! anyway, I can see why this may have been popular when it came out and I did like one or two aspects of the character but overall I can't say I felt especially emotionally attached or, well, basically, bothered about him. All the same, I didn't feel that the film was so obviously bland or far too boring that I wanted to stop watching it and it seems it was a fairly popular film given the rating it gets on IMDB etc., so, again, im going with a 3 star rating. Sometimes im not especially keen on main characters but yet I struggle to make big criticisms about the film regardless, although its hard to explain exactly why. I guess this is very much a middle of the road type of a film. I genuinely did laugh on ocassion and I liked the faster paced scenes, while giggling at some of the definitely more cheesy electro type tunes played - this film is partly comedic due to the decade it was filmed in - I realise its meant to be a comedy but I'm guessing that aspect of it wasn't intended to be part of its comedic appeal! (you can't say I'm not being honest!).

Content wise, this film contains some mild to moderate profanities, some multiple drug references and mild violence (although nothing graphic). It carries a PG rating to reflect this and should be suitable for most family members to watch.

No, I don't think I would particularly recommend this film. Its alright and thats about it. There are some amusing scenes, some funny bits of dialogue but it didn't especially stand out to me and its clearly quite dated as an 80s film, although perhaps to some that would be an appeal, I don't know!. I imagine that if you don't like Chevy Chase, then you certainly wouldn't enjoy this film but otherwise its watchable enough but nothing special.… Expand

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RobwinzDec 11, 2020

Fletch is an alright movie. The movie's got an alright story, good acting, great dialogue, terrible pacing and some very hit and miss humour.

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