Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Crappy film

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Carlos Davis and Anthony Fingleton's superb 1991 film 'Drop Dead Fred' was the late Rik Mayall's first and best Hollywood movie. It was all about an imaginary childhood friend who comes back from the past to help ( or should that be haunt? ) a young woman when her personal life takes a turn for the worst. At the time, 'Drop Dead Fred' was a massive flop. Many criticised the makers for poking fun at the mentally ill. 'Drop Dead Fred' did not poke fun at anything. If anything it highlighted in a comedic manner the effects of emotional abuse.Elizabeth Cronin is an introverted, easily-led young woman whose marriage to the smug and deceitful Charles has come to a bitter end. To make matters worse, she is forced to move back in with her vain, selfish, domineering mother Polly. Upon arriving at the house she grew up in, she starts sorting through her past possessions and comes across a taped-up jack-in-a-box. Opening it, out pops Fred, who was imprisoned in the box by Elizabeth's mother many years previous. Fred's presence in Elizabeth's life is not a welcome one. He smears dog poo on Polly's newly shampooed carpet, sinks the houseboat of Elizabeth's best friend and even drives his childhood friend to the point of insanity where she ends up on strong medication to eradicate him.Just as Elizabeth is about to get Fred out of her life for good, the normally havoc wreaking fiend informs her that Charles ( who she has attempted to reconcile with ) is still cheating on her, which she later finds out for herself when she overhears him making a flirtatious phone call. After a brief inner turmoil, Fred eventually manages to persuade Elizabeth to dump Charles and stand up to her vindictive mother.Rik Mayall hams it up wonderfully in the leading role. Fred is an ill mannered, hyperactive, ham-fisted nutter who cannot hold an object in his hands for more than a second without breaking it, but in Rik's hands he was somehow lovable. 'Gremlins' star Phoebe Cates ( what a babe she was! ) serves as a good foil for the sublime Mayall. Tim Matheson and Marsha Mason both made for convincing adversaries for Fred and Elizabeth. Also turning in fine performances are Carrie Fisher, Ashley Pendon, Ron Eldard and Daniel Gerroll. Bridget Fonda has an uncredited role here as Annabella, the floozy who Charles is cheating on Elizabeth with.'Drop Dead Fred' is an overlooked little work of art that deserves a far better reception than the one it got on its cinematic release. Randy Edeleman's wonderfully mischievous theme tune really gets the feet moving and, alongside the music he wrote for 'Billy Madison' and 'Beethoven', must rank as one of the best ever written for a film. A few years back a remake of 'Drop Dead Fred' was planned with Russell Brand playing the title role. Fortunately, it did not go ahead. After all, who would stump up the cash to see a talentless twerp play a part that has already been played to perfection by a comedy genius?Favourite bit? Fred trying to free his head from the fridge after it has become trapped in the door. Eventually, he manages to get out but his head is left looking as flat as a pancake!

I saw this when I was about thirteen. I had loved kooky, fun, and effects-laden movies like "Beetlejuice," which is what I expected when going to see this. I had also had imaginary friends as a child, so I thought I could identify with it.But Drop Dead Fred was a very different animal from the movies it was marketed to be like - "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Beetlejuice" were fun and harmless romps, in comparison. In between its sparse effects that were kind of entertaining, DDF was an annoying and vaguely disturbing experience that couldn't seem to decide whether it was a kid-friendly comedy, a kooky and adult horror-comedy, a quirky romance movie, or a very sad and dark story about an insane young woman.Something else that annoyed me was that this was also kind of a chick flick, while it was obviously marketed towards children and young adults. The scene where the scantily-clad chick fixes dinner for her successful jerk boyfriend felt like something I didn't sign up to see -- it was like something in a soap opera. I also felt a little sorry for the homely guy we're supposed to believe is going to be her future husband -- how do we know she won't be bad for him? I mean, she likes vain and successful men, and he's neither of those things. Plus she's nuts, capable of destroying her friend's houseboat without remorse, and he's kind of a chump.The guy who played DDF was miscast, too. He's supposed to be the product of a little girl's imagination. What we get is a loud, scary English dude who knows a little more about sex than you'd think a child would dream up. I think they chose this guy because he WAS some kind of successful comedian, but his "loud, insane, dirty limey" schtick just doesn't work here.

Rik Mayall died recently. I had never heard of him before then, so I decided to watch a movie in which he starred. I determined that "Drop Dead Fred"'s point is that we all need some fun in our lives. True, a lot of the humor is pretty childish, but it's hard not to laugh at Fred's antics. Indeed, Elizabeth goes through a stark change in the course of the action.If Phoebe Cates seems familiar, you may have seen her in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (remember the bikini scene?) and "Gremlins". She married Kevin Kline and retired from acting a few years later, although the entire family starred in "The Anniversary Party".Overall, the movie sets out to entertain, and it succeeds. There needs to be a film festival for movies reminding us of the need to have fun. Aside from this one there would be "Zorba the Greek", "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" and "Chocolat".

I would like to see interviews with the cast and crew.This movie was supposed to be Rik's big break into film. He was going to be on the road to Hollywood that Dudley Moore and Peter Sellers went on.But Alas, Drop Dead Fred just dropped dead. Critics bashed it like crazy. Siskel and Ebert put it on their worst films of 1991 and Leonard Malten said it was "Only for those who find nose picking funny."But on video and TV, this film developed a cult audience. Diablo Cody liked it, I think Simon Pegg did as well (they both mentioned it on their Spaced commentary, plus Pegg is a big Young Ones fan. Even in Run Fat Boy Run, his character calls his son "Snot face"), and so does Brandon Hardesty. He said that this film was underrated and had many great adult elements to it.Plus, Brandon is a 90's kid like me. So it's a very nostalgic film for both of us.Critics love to see intelligent films. So jokes where Fred picks his nose and flicks the boogies, stepping in dog poo and wiping it all over the sitting room, the scene where Fred meets his other imaginary friends and all of them pretend to vomit and the scene where Fred and Lizzie make a mud pie, they talk about killing Lizzie's mum, eating her and Fred gets on the table and says "And we'll poo her all over the table."Yeah, I can picture Siskel and Ebert watching that scene and reacting to that. They should've shown that clip on their show. "Our next movie is Drop Dead Fred." (Cut to Fred on the table) "And we'll poo her all over the table."Also, Americans weren't used to Rik Mayall's style yet. So after Fred bombed, Rik went back to television. But fortunately, he and Ade Edmondson created their masterpiece, Bottom. So Rik's career wasn't a total loss.Whether Rik was proud of this film, I dunno.Lizzie wants Charles back, even though he clearly cheated on her and is obsessed with Annabella. Seriously, why does Lizzie want him back? He's a horrible person. Maybe, Lizzie likes that bad boy side of him.Some could argue that Fred is unsympathetic. He sinks Lizzie's friend's boat just for fun, makes her look like a fool in public and gets her into trouble instead of solving her problem.But then Fred was the friend of the 5 year old Lizzie and is pretty much is. He's still stuck in that mode where he's meant to act like a 5 year old in front of her. I loved the scene where Lizzie goes into her subconscious and rescues her five year old self. For a movie about wiping dog poo in the sitting room and nose picking, it's hard not to feel teary at the scene. Also, we all know Rik is an overactor. But in that scene he acts very serious. And he was really good. The effects have not aged well. They're very bad. The scene where Lizzie sneezes and Fred goes flying across the room looks awful. Also the tree bursting out of the stairs is laughable.We also get a small, but sexy cameo from Bridget Fonda in that dress. No wonder Charles left Lizzie for her.Some scenes did make me laugh like Fred's head getting closed in the fridge, he pulls it out and his head looks like a pancake. Also the "And we'll poo her all over the table." line. It's a serious, serious, serious guilty pleasure. It's a movie for people who love British comedy (it's an American film, but the humour is very British). Or if you like Rik Mayall, 90's films or silly movies that don't take themselves seriously.Plus a movie about imaginary friends hadn't been done before and have never been done again.