Load of rubbish!!

Best movie ever!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

If the 80s were so cool, indubitably Chevy made a contribution: here he shows how versatile and funny he was, faraway of today kind who makes tons for nothing: with his big, cool attitude, he definitely proves he is a well educated person, gentle, caring and for sure totally inspired to be crazy and funny with only small details. As all good thrillers, an original investigator is not enough and there must be an original case as well: here it's perfect and the investigation is really interesting to follow!At last, if you love the 80s, you won't be disappointed: sunny LA, Lakers vs Celtics and the expected synthesizer score that really gives energy to the scenes...Being so happy with this witty movie, i remember to have read the original novel from McDonald and they are truly like the movie: funny, fast and gripping! So take whatever Fletch book, think about Chevy in it and you will find hours of happiness!

FLETCH is a comedy for long-forgotten 1980s star Chevy Chase, who had a string of hits to his name in that decade before being consigned to history by the onset of the 1990s. It's a surprisingly funny little movie in which the star plays an inept investigative reporter who finds himself involved in a bizarre case of drug smuggling after a wealthy man asks to be murdered! I thought I'd be on for a dumb, lowbrow comedy throughout, and while some of the humour is indeed in the gutter, at other times this is a witty and intelligent movie. As with most films of this ilk (like THE JERK, etc.) much of the fun comes from seeing the central character getting into various mishaps and attempting to extricate his way out of them. Chase is in his element and his enthusiasm rubs off on the viewer; the cast of the cast effectively plays it straight, highlighting the main character's inanity. It's a solid film, and one I enjoyed.

One of the best comedies of the 80's & quite possibly THE best one of them all. In fact I can't think of another comedy this good completely carried by a single main character, although Beverly Hills Cop is a close second. Chase's ability to assume numerous completely different identities is unrivaled. He's in a class by himself in that regard. I've read where Kevin Smith wants to do the standard prequel update w/ Jason Lee as Fletch. < That IMO will be as big a flop as Steve Martin's embarrassing attempt at Peter Seller's PINK PANTHER.I usually watch this movie over & over its that good.If you want to watch comedic perfection this is your movie. Add Vacation, The Three Amigos, and a few other 80's films and you've got one helluva movie collection.

It takes a strong central lead in the role of a movie like Michael Ritchie's Fletch to make the end product one of a worthy status and, thankfully, Chevy Chase capably handles the task at hand, playing the title character, who is a typical journalist, penning articles under the pen-name "Jane Doe" by day, and a crafty disguise artist by night, carrying his deadpan cynicism with him like a lawyer and his briefcase.While Fletch is undercover one day he runs into Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson), who gives him a generous offer; $50,000 if he would be willing to murder him. He states to Fletch that he is suffering from inoperable bone cancer that will slowly eat away at him like a virus and desperately wants out of this misery. Suicide will nullify his insurance, while murder would give his family the whole package. Fletch accepts the job, but can't help but sense there is something shady here, so he conducts an investigation on Stanwyk and discovers his connections with drug trafficking, as well as local police chief Jerry Karlin's (Joe Don Baker) involvement run a mile deep. This leads Fletch to pose as a number of disguises to get where he needs to be.Director Michael Ritchie directs this picture with the kind of energy it needs, and screenwriter Andrew Bergman (who would write the fabulous It Could Happen to You roughly a decade later) drums up several different sketches that never seem to tread the line of strenuous parodies or a compilation of something resembling Saturday Night Live skits; one of the biggest problems that could've plagued this project as a whole.Yet it's easy to say that if a viewer is searching for Chevy Chase's best performance, they may have found it. Chase is a master at deadpanning humor, and nearly every few seconds, spouts off a shamelessly cynical one-liner that would live on in the hearts and minds of Fletch cultists everywhere. To see him relaxed and confident on screen is one of the many pleasures of the picture, and it gives me reassurance of his possibilities after, not long ago, watching the dry and scarcely funny Three Amigos, which totally shoved his character to the background, where he was lucky enough to get a smile in.Fletch works in large part because of Chase's incredibly sophisticated energy, but is sustainable because not only is it an enjoyable piece of comedy, but also a devilishly entertaining crime drama, that sports a simple, yet effectively handled mystery that one could call fulfilling and worthwhile. Composed of its inherently basic material, delivered in a fittingly unassuming way, with a terrific central performance, a script efficiently written by an underrated comedic talent, direction that stays alive, and a supporting cast (comprised of people like Tim Matheson and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) that work well with the Chase's detached title character, as a quick and spontaneous romp, this one carefully constructs its entire setup to make for favorable entertainment.Starring: Chevy Chase, Tim Matheson, and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson. Directed by: Michael Ritchie.