Fletch

UPC: 025192028526

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Profanity]

Summary: Chevy Chase added a classic comic hero to the film landscape with Fletch, one of his few truly popular star vehicles in a famously misguided post-Saturday Night Live career. Chase plays Irwin M. Fletcher, known to everyone as Fletch, a Los Angeles Lakers-loving investigative reporter with a gleeful disdain for deadlines and a knack for pushing the buttons of his frustrated editor (Richard Libertini). He's also known for donning numerous disguises and assuming zany false identities to help gain information. While pursuing an ongoing story about a powerful drug dealer who operates from Venice Beach, he comes across an intriguing offshoot in which he becomes intimately involved. Aviation executive Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson) has an unusual proposition for Fletch: If Fletch agrees to an elaborate plan to kill him, for reasons Stanwyk refuses to divulge beyond explaining that he has bone cancer, Fletch will walk away with a healthy sum of money and a plane ticket to Brazil. Curious yet suspicious by profession, Fletch begins investigating Stanwyk's true motives, which leads him through numerous misadventures. Among them are a visit to a stuffy country club; a high-speed car chase with an unwitting passenger; repeat encounters with Stanwyk's wife (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), although she may not be his only one; and a trip to Provo -- that's Utah, not Spain. Inspired by a novel of the same name by Gregory McDonald, Fletch went from thriller to comedy as it was adapted into a vehicle for Chase. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Features: Production notes
Cast and filmmakers' bios
Film highlights
Theatrical trailer

Fletch

Format: DVD

Release Date: 08/19/1998

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 98 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: Spanish,English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1
0. chapter list
1. Meet Jane Doe (Opening Credits) [6:34]
2. An Offer He Can't Refuse [5:02]
3. What's News, Pussycat [2:55]
4. Medical Checking Up [7:59]
5. What A Racket [6:10]
6. Hoop Dreams [4:25]
7. A Breaking Story [8:29]
8. Framing Fletch [5:48]
9. The Plane Truth [4:59]
10. Messing With The Missus [6:40]
11. Chevy's Chase [9:13]
12. The Story Is Utah [6:28]
13. Parental Guidance [4:45]
14. Back To The Beach [5:27]
15. To Kill Or Be Killed [7:42]
16. It's All Business (End Credits) [5:13]

Derek Armstrong

Along with brethren like Animal House, Caddyshack, and Stripes, Fletch has earned its place among a choice few endlessly quotable movies, and not just among slacker cinephiles who think of it as their comedic Bible. In his only classic leading role (Clark Griswold from Vacation falls just short, and he's part of an ensemble in Caddyshack), Chevy Chase is such a genius wordsmith, talking circles around one befuddled character after another, that it reaches the sublime. The numerous wacky identities he assumes are really only a surface gimmick, not necessary with dialogue this snappy and smart. Chase makes it easy to understand why this guy would be both a riot to be around and a major source of exasperation. Director Michael Ritchie goes a little heavy on intrigue, using one too many synthesized suspense songs better suited to a movie like Beverly Hills Cop, but Chase's smarter-than-thou schtick delivers more than enough laughs to offset these gestures. The credentials of screenwriters Andrew Bergman (Blazing Saddles), Phil Alden Robinson (All of Me), and Jerry Belson (Smile) blend perfectly to create material that's just right for Chase's deadpan deliveries, as well as a plot that's sufficiently serpentine and genuinely interesting. Whether posing as a mattress-tag inspector or running up endless food orders on the bill of a country club prig, Chase is the smooth prankster we all wish we could be. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Jerry Belson  Screenwriter 
Andrew Bergman  Screenwriter 
Peter Vincent Douglas  Producer 
Harold Faltermeyer  Composer (Music Score) 
Alan Greisman  Producer 
Michael Ritchie  Director 
Phil Alden Robinson  Screenwriter 
Chevy Chase  Actor 
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson  Actor 
Tim Matheson  Actor 
Joe Don Baker  Actor 
Richard Libertini  Actor 
Geena Davis  Actor 
George Wendt  Actor 
M. Emmet Walsh  Actor 
Kenneth Mars  Actor 
Larry "Flash" Jenkins  Actor 
Ralph Seymour  Actor 
Mary Battilana  Actor 
Nico de Silva  Actor 
Donald Chaffin  Actor 
Bill Henderson  Actor 
William Traylor  Actor 
George Wyner  Actor 
Tony Longo  Actor 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar  Actor 
James Avery  Actor 
Reid Cruickshanks  Actor 
Bruce French  Actor 
Burton Gilliam  Actor 
David W. Harper  Actor 
Chick Hearn  Actor 
Alison La Placa  Actor 
Joe Praml  Actor 
William Sanderson  Actor 
Penny Santon  Actor 
Robert Sorrells  Actor 
Beau Starr  Actor 
Rick Garcia  Actor 
Grace Gaynor  Actor 
Freeman King  Actor 
Bill Sorrells  Actor 
Arnold Turner  Actor 
Darren Dublin  Actor 
Irene Olga Lopez  Actor 

Country: USA