PG | 1h 38m | Comedy, Crime, Mystery | 1985
Most folks in entertainment know how challenging it can be to create content that makes people laugh. Comedy is one of the hardest genres to be effective in since it requires precise timing by those who know what they’re doing with whatever source material they’re given to work with.
When it comes to films that fuse comedy and mystery, things can become even more complex since there is a layering of a genre that has to do with subtlety (mystery), upon one which is supposed to make people crack up. Nevertheless, the two seemingly disparate genres have been successfully combined into its own separate genre: comedy mystery.
While comedy mysteries were very popular back in their heyday during the 1930s and ‘40s, with studios pumping out multitudes of them each year, they’ve since become a relatively niche affair.
However, the 1980s saw a pretty decent turnout of comedy mysteries, with a couple of Pink Panther holdovers from the previous decades and a few other decent titles. By the mid-1980s, Chevy Chase was at the height of his career and had the distinction (some would say the “dubious” distinction) of starring in a 1985 comedy mystery film titled “Fletch.” It’s based on author Gregory Mcdonald’s 1974 novel of the same name.
The film opens with Fletch (Chevy Chase) milling around a Los Angeles beach, occasionally talking to some of the seedy denizens languishing there. Although his clothes are dirty and somewhat tattered, he’s merely disguised.
Fletch is actually an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who is working undercover to gather information for what he thinks will be the next big story. He believes that loads of drugs are flowing around via the beaches of L.A., but hasn’t yet found their source.
A mysterious man wearing an expensive suit approaches Fletch out of the blue and offers him $1,000. The catch? Fletch must accompany him back to his house and listen to his proposition. At first, Fletch is hesitant. But the lure of fast money proves to be too much to resist and he goes with the man anyway.
Fletch learns that his host’s name is Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson), a wealthy businessman who lives in Beverly Hills with his wife Gail (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), who is quite the looker.
Alan’s proposal is unusual, to say the least. He tells Fletch that he’s been diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and, since he doesn’t want to suffer in pain, he wants someone to take him out (any insurance payouts to his wife won’t be covered by suicide). He offers Fletch $50,000 to carry out the grisly task, which involves shooting him in the head with a 357 Magnum, then jetting off to Brazil to lay low for a while. Fletch reluctantly agrees to the hit job, although he thinks that there’s probably more than meets the eye.
Back at work, Fletch enlists his fellow reporter friend Larry (Geena Davis) to help him dig into Alan’s background. They come across some newspaper clippings of Alan hanging out with a man they believe to be his physician, Dr. Dolan (M. Emmet Walsh).
Fletch makes an appointment with Dr. Dolan posing as a patient, but doesn’t get anywhere with the tight-lipped doctor. Instead, he finds success in posing as a doctor himself and delving into Alan’s medical records, which reveal that he doesn’t have bone cancer at all.
Our intrepid reporter and master of disguises, Fletch, then pays a visit to the Stanwyk’s hoity-toity tennis club. While posing as a tennis instructor, he comes across Gail and, after some idle banter, begins coming onto her. Although his amorous advances are repulsed, he does discover that Gail liquidated $3 million of her stock in Alan’s business to buy a piece of property in Provo, Utah. He later discovers that the property is only worth $3,000.
From there, Fletch stumbles from one misadventure to the next, wearing different disguises to extract as much information about the Stanwyks as possible. His investigations eventually lead him down a murky rabbit hole that threatens to rapidly shorten his lifespan (no spoilers).
While Mr. Chase does a great job playing Chevy Chase, there wasn’t much of the character Fletch left over to go around. Mr. Chase has a unique brand of comedy that combines deadpan deliveries (in a monotone voice), sight gags, and sometimes elaborate stunts.
Therefore, the entire 98-minute affair seems like one long Chevy Chase skit from his days as a Saturday Night Live cast member. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you’re a fan of his brand of humor.
The ancillary cast does a good job of playing it straight to Chase’s laconically waggish deliveries. I especially enjoyed Richard Libertini as Mr. Chase’s frustrated boss Walker; he reminds me of a John Turturro sans the frizzy hair. Joe Don Baker is also a pleasure to watch as a compromised chief of police.
“Fletch” is a fun comedy romp from the ‘80s—with a bouncy synth-heavy score, tight pacing, and good performances. It has inspired me to check out the most recent Fletch title, 2022’s “Confess, Fletch,” soon.
