I normally don’t call out the shitty 80s music right off the bat, I usually wait until at least halfway through the review to flag the suspect tunes. But It’s like a cornucopia of the same shitty 80s song here. Fortunately, that does not detract from what amounts to 1 hour and 38 minutes of Chevy Chase smoopy one-liners in what one can described as pure mugging cheekiness.
The life and times of a beach bum, otherwise known as an investigative reporter. Fletch has a reputable column in a big Los Angeles newspaper, and he has a big story about to break on the big narcotics scene taking place on the beach. And since he can multitask, he’s also requested to kill a man. Of and By the same man requesting killing. Intriguing. And Somehow Provo is also involved. The Utah one, not Spain. That’s kinda important.
Chevy Chase as a serious smart-ass for pretty much the entire length of the film does mostly work here to add the comedic side to the drama. The silly disguises are just an added bonus. Chase seems to have his personal/professional issues, don’t know, don’t care. Even if some of the pieces in this here movie are a bit off (like the basketball dream and the cigarette thing, understandable but janky), ultimately Chase plays a pretty memorable character here with a humor that usually does garner a few chuckles and grins. Well, several characters played, technically. Some nice secondary roles by George “Norm!” Wendt, M. Emmet Walsh and Fluffy the Killer Doberman. But as goofy as the entire premise is as it plays out, it does technically capture what being a real investigative reporter entails. Kinda. That Shit takes some dedication! And apparently, some 59 cent goofy teeth!
And if you have a problem with that, take it up with Mr. Underhill.
