Movie Details
| Title: | Fletch Lives | |
| Director: | Michael Ritchie | |
| Year: | 1989 | |
| Genre: | Comedy | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 10.29.24 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (3)
- The Bad News Bears
- Fletch
- Prime Cut
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 10.29.24 | Internet | In the book series, Confess, Fletch! Is book number two. This follows one of the differences between the first book and its adaptation so I kinda get what 80s hollywood was thinking in wanting a more straight-forward sequel, even though all it took was a single phone call to get Fletch away from the paper and in Louisiana so I'm not sure how hard it would've been to pick another book. I bet the whole disguises thing had something to do with it. Fletch using fake names while talking to people in conducting his investigation was a big hit in the first film - even used in trailers and the poster - so this one really doubles down with fake hair and teeth and accents. I think at least as far as the four books that I've currently read, all three sequels were too foundationally different to make a good sequel movie. I guess part of the charm of a sequel is checking back in with characters you loved the first time, but that can have a SNL quality where the same people are doing the same gags over and over again which... I guess is safe movie-making? So making a Fletch movie without the disguises wouldn't fly? So we wind up with this mystery involving an inherited antebellum plantation that aa mystery client is offering way too high a price for. It made for a great poster spoofing Gone with the Wind but also meant taking a big swing with moving Fletch to Louisiana. The racial humor starts off borderline questionable but ends up surprisingly straight-forward on this viewing. It was so refreshing back in 1989 when you could make fun of the klan and not worry about offending them, because it was clear their values were not worth their consideration. Same goes for nazi bikers. And even though Cleavon Little plays almost a sterotype, no one shows overt racism toward him. Now this could be because it's a fucking comedy and not Mississippi Burning, but it's still a nice reminder of how even a comedy could rely on audiences getting that context. That said, it's still not as good as the first film. However, I remember seeing this when it came out - I believe I watched it in a drive-in - and I thought it was terrible. The only thing I remembered about it was a dilapidated old house and something about mud. So watching it again I didn't think it was THAT bad. Maybe my memories had elevated the first and lowered the second but I found them to be more like a 7.5 and a 6.5. No question not as good as the first, but not terrible either. Some of the disguises were kinda funny and R. Lee Ermy playing a Gemstones-esque TV Preacher funding a theme park called "Bible Land" was great. There's not even an inkling of gunnery sergeant in there which I think wound up being rare for his career. He pulled off the televangelist with aplomb and probably the funniest scene was Chevy staring at Ermy's shaking hand waiting to get the healing "demons-begone!" touch. Pleasantly surprised. |
