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Fletch (1985)
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This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris go undercover with Fletch as the movie turns 40, releasing on May 31st, 1985.
Based on the first book in the Fletch series by Gregory Mcdonald, Chevy Chase is Irwin P. Fletcher aka Fletch. A reporter for the Los Angeles Times who writes under the pseudonym "Jane Doe", Fletch goes undercover and uses fake identities and disguises to pursue his leads. While investigating drug trafficking on the beaches of Los Angeles, Fletch is approached by Alan Stanwyck (Tim Matheson), who offers Fletch $50,000 to kill him, as he's dying of bone cancer. Fletch is suspicious and starts to dig into Stanwyck, uncovering a complicated scheme that involves fake real estate deals, multiple wives, suspicious flights to Utah, and more. Zach and Chris discuss the movie's excellent soundtrack, the amusing running gag of charging elaborate food orders to the Underhills, how most of Fletch's disguises are just him in a different suit, the many character actors who appear, including the late George Wendt and Joe Don Baker, and more.
You can rent or buy Fletch on services such as Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home. Next week, we're getting our asses to Mars and discussing Total Recall, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Setup
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello, welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the podcast week of May
Hosts Introduction and 'Fletch' Anniversary Discussion
00:00:22
Speaker
26, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. I'm your co-host, Chris. And this week, we're going undercover with Fletch and celebrating the third, uh,
00:00:33
Speaker
40th anniversary of the Chevy Chase classic ah came out this week in 1985. And I think probably peak Chevy Chase like mania.
Chevy Chase's Role and Popularity
00:00:44
Speaker
Would you say, Chris, like this movie came out? Yeah, this movie had so much like love for Chevy Chase that they gave him multiple roles for him to just Chevy Chase out in. And it was it was after National Publicification. was like a couple years before this.
00:01:00
Speaker
European vacation was the same year and then Spice Like Us was also the same year so like three three big chav Chase movies in the same year it's funny that like Spice Like Us didn't get amazing reviews for some people but i think over time it got like beloved but like i think Fletch was like automatically out the door like amazing for people it did like crazy like it's money return for what it was yeah Yeah, it cost like $8 million, dollars and made like $60 million, ah got really good like like critical reviews. So yeah, yeah it was it was a big hit.
00:01:38
Speaker
And it led to a sequel, and then we had a you know a reboot a couple years ago with Jon Hamm playing Fletch.
00:01:48
Speaker
And Jon Hamm dressed up like an Indian guru.
00:01:55
Speaker
I don't... Yeah, I think the new one is more just him smooth-talking people, not ah coming up with like crazy disguises.
Origins of 'Fletch' Novel Series and Plot Overview
00:02:05
Speaker
Which i think is I think is true of the the book series, because this all these movies are based on a series of books by Gregory MacDonald. ah this flight Fletch movie is based on the first Fletch novel, which is also called Fletch.
00:02:17
Speaker
And there's... 11 books um that are all just various Fletch investigating something.
00:02:30
Speaker
It's always in California, I think. Yeah, because he works for the that newspaper. He works for the LA Times and the Lakers are a big part of it because yeah he's a like... Actually, I'm not sure if the Lakers thing was a Chevy Chase thing or a Fletch thing.
00:02:51
Speaker
it but it may be It might be a Chevy Chase thing. but it's um I think they do take places like most of them are in like Los Angeles.
00:03:01
Speaker
I think Book Fletch is also like a former Marine. so there's like He has like fighting abilities. Which we do not get. No, Chevy Chevy not fight anybody in this movie.
00:03:14
Speaker
Yeah, but the but the movie definitely leaned Fletch comes up with wacky yeah alternate identities and, like, the con people and... ah in the and like I guess there's like a trunk full of just like suits and stuff ready to go to his car maybe because it seems like he just like drives somewhere and he has like a ah ah whole outfit and like identity ready to go well he charges the newspaper like his face that's the ad yeah you yeah yeah find out that this isn't just like a thing he does he just sort of has an expense account but well see I don't know how the newspaper like investigative reporting works where
00:03:55
Speaker
I get, like, breaking the news, but do they get, like, a bonus for doing that? It's not like you get more money for breaking the story, right? Well, it's weird because Fletch, sees like, when we meet him, he's been, like, undercover on the beach for, like, weeks trying to find out, like, forgot his drug smuggling operation or his drug operation.
00:04:17
Speaker
and But that seems more like a like he should be like a cop or a detective. like He should be a reporter. you like I guess you find out because the cops are involved somehow with that. but Maybe explains why they're not investigating it. But there's no there's there's no like formal police investigation going on. It's like, Fletch is the only person like, hey, there's drugs going down on this beach. We should probably figure out who's doing this.
00:04:38
Speaker
Yeah, I couldn't tell. That was just the times. It could just be that no one cared. think like i think like crack was like was coming or like was there so just like oh is that just cocaine and just generic stuff whatever or i don't know like they like drug part was really interesting because you don't think it's gonna play back into the story because you you think it's more like just the like california beach like drug epidemic and that's it
00:05:11
Speaker
Well, they keep they keep like jumping back and forth between what you think are two separate ah like kind like investigations switches on. Because he's doing the beach thing, and then he gets ah approached by tim Matheson.
Intertwining Investigations and Fletch's Methods
00:05:25
Speaker
who wants, is this rich guy who wants someone to kill him because he has bone cancer and he wants to like just go out and leave his family with, or his wife with this like multi-million dollar life insurance policy that he has. and you can't It can't be suicide.
00:05:43
Speaker
So then Fletch gets intrigued by that whole plot, but then he keeps jumping back to the beach plot too because that keep keeps s sort like surfacing back up every once a while. So he be he'll like he'll be walking around it's like, oh, right, the beach thing. And also like his editor is like, I want the beach story, Fletch.
00:06:00
Speaker
like just Forget this other one. yeah I put a huge ad. I put this like promo trailer ad in the paper saying that we're going to print the story. I'm going to blow your mind about the but beach drug problem.
00:06:12
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Which, I don't really read newspapers these days, but, like, is that still a thing where people are putting ads in papers? Like, it's their own paper! to like To, like, hype up an article that's coming. It's like, get ready for the news.
00:06:28
Speaker
It'd be like, it'd be like, uh, like, they're, like, putting a trailer, a promo for, like, like a Dear Abby or something. Like, give get ready, next week.
00:06:42
Speaker
Dear Abby, it's gonna blow your mind. Well, okay, one, our world has drastically changed since the 80s, where an expose about like the drug use at a beach just wouldn't be a big feature in a newspaper.
00:06:57
Speaker
like That would just be like a side story. or just like a quick YouTube video of something of it, you know? Like, there are so many people doing exposés off of anything that's just like happening that I know like media and news reporting is like, sometimes it blurs because it's like, it shouldn't be entertainment, it should be informative.
00:07:15
Speaker
But it's like, we never get to hear how Fletch writes. So we don't know if his writing is just Chevy chest che Chase ranting. there's There's like big printouts of like some of his past articles like above his desk.
00:07:30
Speaker
so I mean, he's like a rock star reporter, but no one really knows what he looks like, because then like a lot of people get tricked by him. Yeah, because he writes under Jane Doe, and there's no like there's no photo in the article. I guess guess that's how he can like you know be undercover and like investigate his art stories, is that like no one really knows what he looks like.
00:07:52
Speaker
That's one thing. But, again, we We as like the the viewer, we don't really get a taste of that. We just see Chevy Chase being Chevy Chase. and that's For like the the intro.
00:08:05
Speaker
I think maybe like the book version that played a little more non-Chevy Chase ranting. But in this, it's just like, I hope you like Chevy Chase. Because if you don't, you're having a hard time to watch this movie.
00:08:19
Speaker
Yeah, this this is ah yeah it's it's definitely a ah yeah know showcase for Chevy Chase. Just doing just do like riffing and doing his thing.
00:08:30
Speaker
and like I had to mentally prepare myself. I saw this movie maybe like a year ago... I was like, oh, I haven't seen Fletch in a while. Does it hold up? At times it does, but like maybe be not for me, because it' just like it's not what I grew up watching a lot.
00:08:46
Speaker
like I up watching Spies Like Us more, so I'm used to him um doing more of a like guess like a buddy comedy, kind of like riffing off of like people around him.
00:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, he doesn't really have... like Yeah, he doesn't have ah someone else to like so bounce off of a lot. like wait He's in scenes with... Fletcher goes somewhere and there'll be ah ah like some sort of colorful character he's talking to, it's only for that one scene. doesn't have like a constant like companion like running running around with him so they can like riff off each other.
00:09:23
Speaker
I mean, she I guess Gene Davis a little bit, but Gene Davis is like just like fawning over him. Gene Davis is like totally not used well in this movie. No. she's She's like his girl Friday. Yeah. Just like just like like researching things for... like She's like his internet. She's like, look this up look up this person for me.
00:09:44
Speaker
i mean, it's his researcher, I guess?
00:09:48
Speaker
Yeah, don't I don't know if she is she she's just a researcher or an all-story reporter.
00:09:56
Speaker
we don't We don't see her like writing articles. She's just doing all the work for like the research work for Fletch. I think we never see her outside the office. No. like She and then like the but their boss also... like like oh it's it's They never are outside the office.
00:10:14
Speaker
like When Fletch decides to go to the office, they're there again.
Character Analysis and Disguises
00:10:20
Speaker
But there there is there's so many one-off characters that just show up for like one scene. Like, and Emmett Walsh is the the doctor he goes to. to try to, like, figure, like, because that's, just like, he's, like, in to try to figure out if ah Tim Matthews is actually sick or not as he goes to this doctor. It's, like, the great bit where, like, think he tells him me he has, like, kidney issues or something, or he's having, like, some, like, kidney pain, and then, like, he gets, like, a, like, a proctology exam.
00:10:48
Speaker
Yep. And that's, like, I think that's the first, like, character he's playing. The more, like, deep cover character. but just like as he He needs to find out if, ah if what's his face?
00:11:03
Speaker
yeah just say if If Tim Matheson has cancer or not. Which is, it's just like, yeah, because I guess back in the 80s, you could just be like, I've got cancer, please try to kill me. And it's like, oh, okay, well, I'm gonna do my research before I just go ahead and do that.
00:11:22
Speaker
well Well, Tim Method's whole scheme is just, it's so, like, elaborately laid out and, like, meticulously planned that it's just like something's, like, you just tell something's off about it immediately. You have to be here at this time, on this day, and then go here, go go to go to the airport, I'll ticket ready for you, you'll take to the ticket, fly to Rio...
00:11:44
Speaker
At your hotel. i got your breakfast package. It'll be fun. The only thing is, like I don't know if in the time this came out before this, was there just like some sort of urban legend of people like doing this? Where it's like, oh, you hire the stranger to do your dirty work against you? like You know what I mean? like yeah It just sounds like something you hear at a terrible like urban legend at like a place where it's like, oh no, like you can find a hitman, but it's like, you got a hobo Not even a hobo. You got like a drug addict. it that that Like Timeth apparently has been like watching Fletch for weeks is like, this is the perfect guy. This is my guy to kill me.
00:12:26
Speaker
This guy's the perfect hobo. So it kind of tells you like, how well did Fletch pretend to be a hobo? Was he just like eating garbage out in the open? And then like this guy's like, yep, that's my man.
00:12:38
Speaker
Because he didn't know that Fletch was Fletch. He just thought this was going to be like hobo. Yeah. Which is surprising. I thought it would be some sort of like twist where maybe the editor Geena Davis was like, oh, we should kill you for like something or like, you know, Fletch, you got too close to the story. So now we got to bury you like more, more personal like that.
00:13:05
Speaker
But, no, it's actually just, like, a separate thing that's going on from everything else. Also, how is Fletch, like, fitting in with, like, the the drug addicts if he wasn't doing drugs?
00:13:16
Speaker
See what I mean? like something like this house he's like like he's just like He's, like, super clean-cut Chevy Chase. He's wearing, like, ah like a slightly bent, like, worn, like, hoodie. But, like, he's not, like, you know, not twitching out or anything. It's like, hey, but what's up, fellow drug users?
00:13:32
Speaker
So, I think it's, uh... It's like he just didn't shower. That's what he said. That's it. It's like if you don't shower for i don't know how many days or whatever, you just automatically are accepted in the drug user community on the beach.
00:13:49
Speaker
But if they're doing like you know if you're like heroin or something, he's he can't have track marks. Maybe he does it somewhere else. I don't know. really don't see that. like They really downplayed the drug use. If anything, they just really show the one guy get like always manhandled.
00:14:03
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Which is part scheme.
00:14:08
Speaker
I don't understand how that's like... Of all the people to use, you use this guy. Like, he's your mule.
00:14:15
Speaker
and also And also the late George Wentz as Fat Sam who runs a hamburger stand or an abandoned hamburger stand that is the front for the drugs. Well, is it like Gummy and Fat?
00:14:28
Speaker
Gummy and Fat Sam are the two guys. Yeah.
00:14:33
Speaker
I don't know if that's like... What's the right word? um
00:14:39
Speaker
That was just lazy writing? Or like that was like research by the by ah Gregory McDonald? No, no, no. Most drug guys have no creativity in like there their drug names.
00:14:56
Speaker
He chews gum, he's gummy. He's Fat Sam. Pretty much. like Okay, well... to the point. Yeah, you got Skinny Pete, you got Tall tall Joe, you got... Yeah, so now we're basing that on other kind of, like, movies, and it's like, that can't be real.
00:15:18
Speaker
But yeah, but the drug investigation like kind of gets put on the side for a little bit, and then, yeah, Fletch is like, he's like, you have a state in this just new, like, ah case, which is Tim Matheson's weird scheme.
00:15:32
Speaker
Now, do you think, like, okay, so do you think Fletch would have killed him if he wasn't trying to investigate and it was a scam? Are we supposed to believe that that could have been, like, a thing Fletch?
00:15:44
Speaker
Yeah, I never killed anyone for money before. No, I think Damien Fletch, he's like a pretty like stand-up guy. He's trying to like get the truth and like you know bring people to justice this week if he can. and like he's like a but But like, Tim Method... There's no crime yet for what he did for a second assignment.
00:16:04
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:16:07
Speaker
It's like, Fletcher would have been like, well, i'm going to call the cops and report this, or I should do something. But it's like, nah, you know what I'm going to just think about it for a few days. This has tickled by reporter senses. I'm going investigate this now.
00:16:25
Speaker
um like I'm going to go get a unnecessary proctology exam. Then, like, wander into the morgue.
00:16:34
Speaker
which is fun scene. like He puts on a doctor outfit, and then he like just... what like the book just like Which i guess I guess is another like eighty like lax 80s thing. you're just like just so The guy in like the like pathology department is like working on the corpse. He's like, hey, get in here, help me.
00:16:46
Speaker
yeah i don't know who you are, just come over here. Are you a man in
80s Media Landscape and Iconic Theme
00:16:50
Speaker
a nurse outfit? Or like a do doctor outfit? You're ordained to handle whatever emergency this is.
00:16:57
Speaker
Hold this guy's spleen.
00:17:05
Speaker
And then Emmett Wall shows up down there, and then in the background, he and the other... The doctor are laughing at each other. We have idea what we're talking about. We kind see him in the background laughing it up. Like drinking coffee, just hanging out.
00:17:22
Speaker
yeah they're just having a chill time the morgue. Laughing over some dead guy. i don't know, maybe that's just morgue humor or morgue life. They're just...
00:17:34
Speaker
They just have like their lunch break. It's like the daytime, too. For like a morgue scene, it's very bright. In any um modern movie now, any time takes place in a morgue, it's lit blue, and it's dark.
00:17:47
Speaker
But this is like the first time I've seen a morgue scene, or like one memorable, that just looks like a regular office. regular That's like like like a window through to like the record department.
00:18:00
Speaker
Which I don't know if a lot of hospitals do that. You put your record to like room next to like the morgue. You want to keep your records cold. Those file ah foul cabinets.
00:18:13
Speaker
File folders. Although I was surprised like they had it like it was already computerized. like You could like look up like like records in a computer and they'll tell you where it was in this movie. Yeah, that's different. I thought would be some sort of like punch card system that Fletch has to do.
00:18:28
Speaker
Or like the con, con like the woman that runs like the record department.
00:18:39
Speaker
It's like, i I'm with i'm go with the ah you the insurance company. but He does that later on. Or he's like, you know, I did like he like, he saw that there was like four different doctors named Dr. Rose and something. So he just got like, that one nurse, he's like, I'm Dr. Rose.
00:18:56
Speaker
It's like, what was your name? that I think that's classic like book fletch where he just more, more or less like socially makes it awkward for the people.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah, I think i think Book Fletch, and I think also maybe like Jon Hamm Fletch too, kind of just like says they're someone else, but that they don't like do like elaborate dress-up costumes to so like sell it.
00:19:21
Speaker
They just kind of like confidently yeah, I'm this guy.
00:19:27
Speaker
um'm like, I'm an undercover cop. I'm a doctor. I'm a lawyer. Yeah.
00:19:37
Speaker
i do I do think my favorite scene, or probably one of my favorite scenes in the movie, ah but it's the first one, then he goes back to the tennis club, but i I love just the running bit of he sees that like ah Underhill guy being a jackass, the staff, and then he charges all that stuff to with like his bill.
00:19:55
Speaker
Apparently that's like the big legacy of Fletch, is that the Underhill joke has been used so long now. If you look up the history of like the Underhill, ah like other movies reference it.
00:20:09
Speaker
There's like, people have mentioned Other Hills, like another thing at like restaurants and stuff is like code word.
00:20:17
Speaker
It had like a cultural influence at one point.
00:20:21
Speaker
it It is, it is, it's a great bit. Like, especially like, it's like second order. We're just like, we're doing like, uh, like caviar and lobster thermidor and Don Parian. Yeah.
00:20:32
Speaker
And the waiter's like, it's like, have caviar? It's like, oh, yes, sir. It's expensive, though. $80 a serving. It's like, oh, I'll have to get just two then. And two two battles with Don Berion.
00:20:48
Speaker
Um...
00:20:51
Speaker
and then And then, yeah, then he's... He then it's kind Then Fletch is kind of just like... He like is like he also just... He flies to Utah just to go to one place and then flies back.
00:21:03
Speaker
Yeah, that scene is not necessary. Yeah. um Yeah, I don't know why you couldn't have it had them like that that also be Los Angeles. I don't know why you'd fly to Utah to just go to this like one shady real estate. Utah made sense only because it's where you can have polygamy.
00:21:17
Speaker
Yeah. But you can just find a record and then just say, okay, hey, he's married in Utah, and it would have been just a sign. But the fact that he has to go and and like breaking this movie up breaking this one one like office of this shady real estate agent and then just get like take pictures of one document and then immediately fly back to Los Angeles.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yeah. It's just for fluff. It's just to purely pad the movie. But then he flies back again later like He back you ah like meet like a tim eison's parents Oh wait, that's a different scene, you're right.
00:21:58
Speaker
That was like the same weekend. He's like, oh, I gotta back to Utah.
00:22:05
Speaker
So yeah, he's yeah i mean he's racking up like a ah big travel bill for the LA Times.
00:22:11
Speaker
Because they're paying for the tickets. Like hes like his boss is like, yeah, go to transportation to like get a ticket for Utah, I guess. but This story is promising to sell so many issues the LA Times.
00:22:27
Speaker
They gotta make back that promo, that ad money. That they took out for themselves in their own favor?
00:22:37
Speaker
I just think they took an ad out in another thing, or like, you know... put a TV ad or something. Oh my god, yeah, just like... Like, we get i mean, they they used to have like commercials for like radio stations, so, I mean, and like magazines, so yeah yeah they could have taken a ad and be like, catch catch this weekend's LA Times, we got the new Jane Doe expose.
00:23:04
Speaker
Catch it.
00:23:08
Speaker
do you remember when media used to do things like that? It used to be a big, exclusive... Now we can't even stand like when a YouTube video is 10 minutes long and we're just like, ugh.
00:23:18
Speaker
Just to tell us who did this. That's it. Now just like it's just like a tweet or like a blue sky post. Exclusive. i heard this.
00:23:30
Speaker
Yeah. Did you hear about the drugs there? Like, okay. Granted, it is a crazy like twist and turn of where it all connects and how Fletch even stumbles upon it.
00:23:44
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Because, honestly, the drug trade at the beach, fine. But then it's like, okay, conspiracy with cops. Check out this rich guy with this other plan.
00:23:55
Speaker
It kept on going. Yeah, for for like ah like ah a wacky 80s comedy, it has a very... ah pretty complicated plot.
00:24:07
Speaker
Which I guess you know i guess like probably the book was like ah you know pretty sophisticated and upgraded.
00:24:14
Speaker
which Which I think they dropped in Fletch Lives the sequel. I think it kind reverted back from that a little bit and would lead more into like just you know Chevy Chase in different outfits and then like wacky slapstick things happening.
00:24:29
Speaker
I think Fletch Lives kind of reverted back to more of a traditional Chevy Chase movie. Like a National Lampoon or something. If I remember correctly, doesn't Fletch live like he inherits something from like a rich man?
00:24:42
Speaker
Yeah, he he inherits like a plantation in like Louisiana or something, and then he has to go there, and then there's some sort of like real estate scam, or he's set up for murder or for murdering someone, and he has to clear his name. Yeah, it's so weird. like They have to escalate it in some way.
00:25:01
Speaker
You can't be downgraded where it's like, oh, what's the next thing? like like, boosting cars. Right. There's my report. Well, weird thing about Fletcher Luz is that it's it's not even like he's not even there for a like rap report. He's not like he's not investigating ah anything for like the LA Times. he's so It's a like this bizarre like family thing that happens to him.
00:25:21
Speaker
Like, oh, my aunt like died. I got a mansion. All right, I'm going to leave LA and go to Louisiana. It's
00:25:31
Speaker
calls. Hold my calls.
00:25:40
Speaker
So, but in in this movie, he does he does catch the eye of the cops. And we get we get the the late Jonah Baker as ah Chief Carlin, who is just, like, and could could not be more corrupt.
00:25:56
Speaker
So, if you watch a lot of, like, 70s and 80s dramas, or, like, Columbo, anyone wearing a three-piece suit is usually the villain.
00:26:09
Speaker
Mm-hmm. It's like the standard outfit of like, I have money that has corrupted me or like, I need to keep being corrupted to have money.
00:26:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think Joe Don Baker, like, think he's wearing the same like outfit the whole time. Oh, yeah. i wonder if he shot all the scenes in like a day or two.
00:26:31
Speaker
But yeah, he's he's the corrupt cop, ah chief of police. He basically threatens to kill Fletch if Fletch doesn't drop the the beach story because it's you ruining the chief's operations.
00:26:48
Speaker
And he's just i you just share like, oh yeah, I'm going to shoot you and then I'm going stab myself with this knife a couple times and I'm gonna make it look like you stabbed me and I killed you. I do it all the time. That's how I became police chief.
00:27:02
Speaker
yeah I did it to last guy. did it to the former chief. i i killed I did that to him, and then I could became chief.
00:27:15
Speaker
but But then, Fletch says he's going to drop like the case, but then they still have like he still has cops after him, because we get that whole like big elaborate car chase.
00:27:26
Speaker
I feel it was like, now i don't know if that was like a studio note or just like a thing where it's like, we i get some action here. We gotta get like a, this like, some sort of like big set piece. I think it was just a set piece. They were competing against like the Blues Brothers, so they needed something like in that realm.
00:27:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:45
Speaker
Which, it's it's it's a fun car chase. I do like, I like that the fact that they like, Fletch switches cars and it's that it steals the other guy's car, but then that guy was stealing that car to begin with.
00:27:57
Speaker
And then Fletcher's like, I'm like the like admissions inspector.
00:28:04
Speaker
Sweet, like, I'm stealing from a thief, it's fine. And there's some fun, like, ah like jumping over the curbs and like some some quick maneuvers, and like one biker cop like flies off his bike but after he hits a curb, and then run the freeway for a little bit. It's ah it's it's ah it's a fun, solid car chase.
00:28:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's no bullet, but For Jerry Chase action movie? Mm-hmm.
00:28:31
Speaker
You got that Dan Hartman song playing in the background about, like like, going to Rio or Alaska? Fletch getting out town?
Memorable Scenes and Music in 'Fletch'
00:28:39
Speaker
Which, speaking of the music, we mentioned that the Fletch theme by Harold Fultemeier, like, top-tier Harold Fultemeier music. Same guy that did the... Beverly Hills Cop. Beverly Hills Cop, yeah. Yep.
00:28:51
Speaker
And Top Gun. Yeah, the music is good. That's the one part I still give Fletch. The first time I watched it, I surprised how well the music has held up. And then even the like the the usage of having like the but music play at the right beats.
00:29:10
Speaker
Well, i was I forgot that it just like kicks off with like, BAM! Here's like this like this like pop song, bit by bit, for the credits. The open credits is like black text and just you see listen to the entire song.
00:29:25
Speaker
Like, the Fletch theme. Oh, was it?
00:29:31
Speaker
but then But then it's like a hard... It's kind of this like awkward... like It's a hard cut from that song into like a Harold Fultemeier. Harold Fultemeier's Fletch theme. was like the pop song Fletch theme, but then it was like Harold Fultemeier's Fletch theme.
00:29:46
Speaker
Which one do you like? Oh, i mean... Harold Fultemeier... I feel like his Fletch theme is like... top five Harold Fulton by your songs like XLF is obviously number one probably and then like you know Top Gun Anthem but I mean he's got has like this this is also like I would say like peak Harold Fulton by your era too because like I think I think his run was Axel like a Beverly Hills Cop so XLF and then Top Gun and then this were like three in a row that's the three movies did a row
00:30:21
Speaker
And then he did Running Man later on. He did Tango and Cash, which we talked you know we talked about last year.
00:30:31
Speaker
but all of his stuff is always great.
00:30:40
Speaker
And, yeah, and then it's, yeah, a big car chase. um i think I think after that, he that's when he flies back to Utah, like, again, just to, like, question, like, the parents.
00:30:54
Speaker
Oh, we forgot to mention in the, the really but the bizarre um like, like, Lakers daydream that just, like, they shored in for, I guess, just to have, like, a, like a, like a Kareemah Jewel Jabbar, like, cameo.
00:31:08
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:31:12
Speaker
one like I think Fletcher just says, like i think oh i had to I just have to go home and take a nap. So he goes home and then yeah just like lays on his bed watching like ah like like a Kareemah Jujabar interview. He just imagines himself as like a Laker with like a giant afro.
00:31:28
Speaker
Yeah. ah Definitely just a skit. I feel like they did they they wanted to include this just put it to please Chevy, but it's just like its own, like its it's like an SNL skit.
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah, his he has literally nothing, there's no information that propels the plot forward, it's just literally just a weird scene that just dropped in the middle of the movie.
00:31:59
Speaker
But there's there's some funny bits. like i like I like it ends with like him trying to bite a guy's arm in the middle of a scuffle of ball. And then i think at one point the other thing is that he's from... He's like, he's like this this young kid from Harlem, he's scrappy.
00:32:15
Speaker
It's like, Fletch is from Harlem? Okay. Wow. It's... Chevy, and I feel like this is only street cred moment he could have.
00:32:27
Speaker
Maybe, yeah.
00:32:38
Speaker
Oh, there's also... there's also um that That's probably... Daydream is probably like one of the most elaborate dress-up costume scenes. the The other one is is like where he actually like uses like some props and stuff is when he pretends to be like the plain mechanic guy.
00:32:56
Speaker
puts he puts in those fake teeth and slicks back his hair. yeah he's got like way more prosthetics, I guess. And then... What was he trying to learn from that again? I...
00:33:07
Speaker
he find He finds out that... ah because hes that's The plane the point he's looking at is like Tim Matheson's plane. but and Which he says... like He flies back and forth to ah Utah.
00:33:19
Speaker
But then the two mechanic i like, oh, well, he's using enough fuel to get to South America. like He's using like way too much fuel for just like going to Utah every time. Every couple weeks. so that's ah that's the drug trade So that's when Fletch is like, oh, he's he's like flying to South America to get drugs and flying back.
00:33:38
Speaker
but What's weird, because the setup of that scene is that the guys, like, it seems like those guys are, like, already, like, they're totally onto them, like, they're just, like, making up, like, parts for him to look at. But then, like, the parts are real that they mentioned, wanted to look at? There's, like, you gotta look at the, the Flippity What's It, like, in the back there. He's like, oh, yeah, of course, the Flippity What's It.
00:33:59
Speaker
Which, you think the scene would be, like, oh, they're setting to, like, be like, hey, you're not a mechanic. But then, they ah they were real parts, and then Chubby just gets away with it and leaves.
00:34:11
Speaker
I would like that if like they were also like fake mechanics, so it's like two fake mechanics trying out-fake each other. Just one-upping each other fake parts.
00:34:23
Speaker
Or it's like, would it be great if Chubby actually started to try to work on it and it was just ripping out lines and oil started spraying around or something? Totally destroyed the plane? It's like,
00:34:36
Speaker
ah get that out here. And it's like, he starts getting sprayed in the face with oil. It's like, oh, ah yeah that's they're supposed to do that.
00:34:51
Speaker
But I think, I think, yeah, I think kind of after that, like, that's like, the that's before the chase. Then like after the chase, that's when flies to Utah again to like meet the, like the meet the, like, ah Tim at his parents and then finds out about like oh he's already married to someone else and he flies there all the time which which which is like ah because like his his current his actual wife that like was is like the his like rich wife Gail like never has met his parents and like never goes to Utah
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah, which that it's weird because, like, again, i think I mentioned, like, his wife doesn't seem like she loves her husband. She's, like, super not concerned about anything that's going on.
00:35:34
Speaker
No, yeah, yeah che Chevy gets in there very easily. He's just, like, but he worms away and, like, alright. Because she's, like, oh, are you hitting on me? He's, like, yep, I definitely am. It's, like, okay, I'm i'm into that. Like, I'm a happily um'm ah happily un unhappy married, like, married woman.
00:35:51
Speaker
She was just like, this marriage was on the rocks already. Oh, ah yeah, 100%.
00:36:01
Speaker
but then But then she paid she gave Tim Matheson like $3 million. dollars She traded in her stock of her father's company to get $3 million dollars to buy a ranch that she's never been to or seen. Tim Matheson is like, hey, I want to buy this i want to buy this like ranch in Utah. He's just like, all right, here you go.
00:36:23
Speaker
Yeah, that seems weird. But it's part of what, like, Fletch finds, is like, the land actually only costs, like, $3,000, like, Tim Madison has, like, millions of dollars just, like, in, like, in suitcases, like, waiting to go
00:36:41
Speaker
I mean, it seems like in this rich fantasy world, the rich people are either, like, corrupt and super, like, greedy, or they're just, like, ignorant. Mm-hmm.
00:36:54
Speaker
They just have no idea like what's going on the real world or like anything besides tennis or the country club.
00:37:04
Speaker
What does Gail do? I think she's just a trophy wife. i think because like Her father owns the like airp airline company, Boyd Aviation. She inherited a bunch of money and then that's Tim Matthews married her just to get money.
00:37:16
Speaker
Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, I mean, Tim Matthews, yeah he really scammed his way up. Mm-hmm. Because I think they mentioned, like, was he just, he was just like, he was a pilot for like, don't if it was for that airline or a different airline, but then he, yeah, he married Gale and then basically worked up to be like an executive in like that Boyd Aviation.
00:37:44
Speaker
But then somehow got into the ah the drug smuggling game.
00:37:52
Speaker
I don't think we only that we ever find out what like how he and, you know, Spoiler is the chief, John Baker, like, started working together. Like, they just are.
00:38:05
Speaker
that You just need to know that they are both, like, willing do it. In on it? Yeah, they're just, like, in it cahoots. I mean, it's fine. Like, you can tell that they had, like, like any kind of evil business relationships.
00:38:20
Speaker
Yeah, because Timoth is flying down South America like every couple weeks and getting drugs. And then the cops are going... Jonah Baker is sending his cops to go arrest Gummy, one of the beach beach guys.
00:38:37
Speaker
And then they give him the drugs under the like pretense of like arresting him. And then he brings the drugs back to George Wendt and be like, here you go. Sell these drugs now.
00:38:51
Speaker
But then they're both they're both kind of being forced to do it because Fletch is like, hey, you guys should like... He tells both of them that they're like the other one is in a turn-state-evidence-exposed scheme.
00:39:03
Speaker
So they both like show up at the paper and be like, hey we'll we'll tell you what what's going on. which That's like the big like final piece of the the beach story.
00:39:16
Speaker
Yeah, it it's sort of like comes back because they need to bring back Gummy and Pats again. like its Just more Gummy. Gummy is the one that gets beat around all the
00:39:29
Speaker
the time. I'm surprised it wasn't like a white text on screen in the black background that says like Gummy died that day or something. Oh god!
00:39:41
Speaker
Like, um... Like like like an animal house, or like just, like, explaining where everyone like ended up at the end of the
00:39:54
Speaker
movie. But yeah, but but yeah but theyre they're they're both gonna, you know, rat on the chief, and then Fletch actually goes to Tim Method's house on the the day he said he was gonna go there to kill him.
00:40:07
Speaker
And then we get, like, the the big, like, uh...
00:40:12
Speaker
like Agatha Christie style reveal of the, like he wrote a letter explaining it, like he's like, if you kill me, this letter's going out to everybody and I'll go ahead and read it. And it just lays out like, Fletch like figured everything out.
00:40:28
Speaker
Yeah, it seems like the plan was to just kill Fletch, like Alan, whatever, like Tim, Tim Matthews's character, Alan was like, oh, Fletch like,
00:40:40
Speaker
We're the same same height. yeah they Are they the same height? I like they're not. I feel like Chevy's very tall. Yeah, I feel i feel like Chevy's like six three
00:40:53
Speaker
but But in the context of the movie, they're the same height, apparently. Or the same like body structure. But they're obviously different ages. Because I don't remember Tim Matthews, Matheson, and Chevy Chase being like and anywhere the same age range.
00:41:09
Speaker
And then it's just like, well, burn the body, and then it's like, you might get away with diet sort of that for a little bit, but that's the point. It's like, you're supposed to just burn this identity for temporarily, and then just sort of live out your life in... Rio.
00:41:23
Speaker
Rio? South America with $3 million. Bites you a lot in Rio.
00:41:34
Speaker
Yeah, it is. funny it's It's funny. Like there's a I was reading I had to be like when the goofs section is like so Fletch goes to the airport to like confirm what like who has a ticket and the tickets under Alan Stanwyck's name.
00:41:50
Speaker
close But if he's if Stanwyck's going to kill Fletch and leave the country, it should have been under like, ah you know, Ted Nugent, which is what Fletch told him his name was.
00:42:02
Speaker
No, no, The ticket was supposed to be under Alan, and then Fletch is supposed to pretend to be Alan. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's why the ticket, you want to know if the ticket was there in the first place, not so much who's it under.
00:42:15
Speaker
like Yeah, because I thought, like, Alan was, like, a kind of totally steal Fletch's identity, which would have been Ted Nugent because that's what he named him up to that point. No, no, no.
00:42:27
Speaker
It's a little more clever, only because, like, Again, this is the eight day and age where you just can go to the airport, ask you have to go to them, ask them questions, and then that's it.
00:42:37
Speaker
You don't... I mean... They don't need to prove, like, yeah, I've got a ticket under that. It's like, who are you? It's like, never mind, bye. yeah go Go there the day before and just ask about a flight that's happening tomorrow. It's like, hey, i bought tickets for this that flight tomorrow, right?
Humor in Aliases and Chevy Chase's Performance
00:42:55
Speaker
you did, sir. It's like, can I get some identification that proves you're asking who you're saying?
00:43:01
Speaker
And ask if they have a ticket for this person but without any proof that you are that person.
00:43:09
Speaker
I mean, just like if you just know someone. No driver's license. stuff Yeah, as I say, like noday no ID. It was pre 9-11, baby. You can just yep go to the airport and be like, is this man on that plane? Yeah.
00:43:20
Speaker
That's it. Just go there like an hour before a flight takes off. and Like, hey, can I get ticket for this flight that's going to take off in like an hour? Or like the next flight leaving? And like, sure, here you go. Just walk right in. Walk right in.
00:43:35
Speaker
Or, you know, we need a ticket. Like, all those romantic comedies, you just run through the gate and get to the gate with no ticket. and no security checks. Well, that stopped in the ninety Yeah.
00:43:47
Speaker
I mean, technically the security check was just the pre-gate thing, because then you can just get to the gate. You get to the the boarding gate. But, yeah, if you wanted to go to the airport you just go to the security check, you can just go, like, straight to it.
00:44:03
Speaker
It was a different time, Zach. I know you didn't go to the airport a lot as a kid, but I did. And let me tell you, back when JFK used to have a decent airport, ah you can just go there for the afternoon. Like, go go buy lunch at the airport and, like, watch like sit at the arrival doors and watch, like, planes take off and stuff.
00:44:24
Speaker
Or, like, be in air condition. Now you can't. now you can't pull a fletch and just like ask about important information.
00:44:36
Speaker
They'd be like, yeah, do you have three forms of ID in our app?
00:44:42
Speaker
Or sorry should be should you should it should already be in your app or an email. Oh, yeah.
00:44:52
Speaker
Oh, another thing we didn't mention before we closed things out is it's weird that Fletch uses what should be known names for like identity like his fake IDs.
00:45:05
Speaker
ah he' said He says like he's like Don Corleone and Harry S. Truman and Ted Nugent. But like no one's like... I think one person mentioned kind of questions that's weird that he's named after a famous person.
00:45:20
Speaker
but Everyone else is totally like, yeah, I don't know what that is Whatever, that's your name.
00:45:26
Speaker
It's like Don Corione from the Godfather. He says he's Don Corione and he mentions plot points from the Godfather as like his like backstory. Yeah, he like he gets through by just like tricking these people with obvious codenames and like aliases. That's what I'm saying. Maybe just it doesn't work for me just because it's not as clever anymore for me.
00:45:49
Speaker
Maybe as a kid, that seemed kind of cool, but even as a kid, I probably didn't... I think I told you, like I didn't understand half the references because it went over my head.
00:46:02
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I remember i remember to like ah him like having much more like elaborate like you know like cost like fake mustaches and ah yeah well more like elaborate disguises, but a lot of his disguises are just him in a different suit.
00:46:18
Speaker
and just It's just Fletch, but he's ah wearing a different suit. And maybe he's wearing glasses.
00:46:25
Speaker
Except for, like, the one time he dresses up, he's got that... He goes back to the beach, he's got the roller skates and the bald cap and the beard and the robe and stuff.
00:46:38
Speaker
And then, yeah, he wears the fake teeth that what for the other disguise. yeah But a lot of his disguises are just... ah apparently he just has like a bunch of different suits in his car. He just, like, switches to one.
00:46:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's very tame for what do you think, like, a disguise movie would be.
00:47:00
Speaker
Yeah, we were talking we were talking before like before we started recording, it like, it's not like Master of Disguise or The Saint or something, where it's, like, very elaborate, like, trusteesti like prosthetics and crazy voices and, you know...
00:47:14
Speaker
much more over the top like ah undercover disguises.
00:47:21
Speaker
Well, it's whatever the budget of the newspaper can give him. It's not like he has got like a Mission Impossible briefcase of masks and things, but I feel like because we just did Mission Impossible, it's also a Fletch movie.
00:47:35
Speaker
Kind of, yeah.
00:47:38
Speaker
Man, yeah, Fletch would probably kill for a mask-making machine. And a voice changer. Mm-hmm. Oh,
00:47:50
Speaker
but you know what's weird? i'm I'm looking at the poster right now. on the poster, he's got... The you know he's got like the poster is like... chip she's like either He's folding out like his IDs, but it's all different. like He's got different identities. One of them's a hockey player. And I don't think he ever... This guy says he's a hockey player in the movie.
00:48:09
Speaker
Nah. ah Well, if you but the original poster has like... like the IDs that don't make sense. He's got the hockey player, the basketball player, doctor, and then like the ah gu guru, the most gay guru guy, I guess.
00:48:24
Speaker
But that those were actually his things. Yeah. The hockey player, have no idea. That could be just another deleted scene. Yeah, maybe just a deleted scene where he's playing hockey. Well, if you look at the like the new remastered 4K of it, they like change around that order.
00:48:40
Speaker
Mm-hmm. got a different like wallet fold-out.
00:48:48
Speaker
And they up-res the cover so it doesn't look so dark. At least the one version. Oh, sorry. The Blu-ray of it. You're not looking at the HD DVD?
00:49:03
Speaker
I think there's there's the... I guess there's a Fletch and Fletch Lives combo pack they had. You had to, yeah. They got rid of completely the the wallet. It's just like all the Chevy Chase characters. It almost looks like it's like the clumps.
00:49:20
Speaker
There was a Fletch Happy Gilmore Mallrats triple feature. i don't... This movie had nothing in common up with each other at all. Besides starring like Caucasian people?
00:49:31
Speaker
I guess, yeah.
00:49:35
Speaker
I can see if you need a Trevi Chase triple feature or something, or an SNL Starz triple feature. but like that's ah That's a very like weird... it's this Universal just had like, we have raise these three movies. i don't know. Put them in the fact together.
00:49:49
Speaker
If someone had a movie night, and they invite you to watch all those movies. It just would be really random. Mm-hmm.
00:50:02
Speaker
But yeah, this movie wraps up. Jonah Baker kills Tim Matheson because he's, you know, like, he's betrayed like betrayed him and stealing his money. And then Fletch manages to pull the, like, the gas on the fireplace in Tim Matheson's office and then throws his lighter in there. Which, i like that they set one time that Fletch has a lighter because he smokes in one scene. That's like that's like the only justification for him to have a lighter.
00:50:31
Speaker
Really? I kind of forget that. Yeah, he goes he goes to Utah and is he's like walking around the abandoned house of Tim Massen's actual wife.
00:50:43
Speaker
And then the like the guy busts him with a shotgun and chases him out. But he's like walking around the house with like a like like like like's cigarette and he's walking around smoking. It's like the only scene he's smoking in entire movie.
00:50:58
Speaker
But it kind of feels like that it's only there for him to have letter at the end and be like, oh, I have a letter. I can like blow Jonah Baker up.
00:51:09
Speaker
But Jonah Baker's blown up, he's still alive and gets arrested. And then the they print like the big article of you know beach drug operation foiled, like chief arrested.
00:51:27
Speaker
Wait, wait. Then, like, known, ah like, if criminal Gummy dead. I think they're fine. They were, like, they were in the office when Fudge left them. They were, like, stealing, like, his boss's stuff in his office.
00:51:45
Speaker
And then, yeah, Flesh and inle yeah fluy Gale fly to Rio, and Flesh somehow has, like, Mr. Underhill's American Express card memorized, so he's using that card to, like, buy things in Rio.
00:51:56
Speaker
Like, I don't need to have the card physically. you As long as you have the numbers, it works.
00:52:09
Speaker
But, ah yeah, so that's Fletch. Our really quick recap of it. Honestly, it's like, again, I'm not a huge Fletch fan.
00:52:20
Speaker
um I'll give Confess Fletch a shot just because I like Jon Hamm. I want to see another version of john of like a Fletch story that isn't so much trying to be a acting reel.
00:52:36
Speaker
I kind want like a very intriguing mystery. Because like this movie has so many like breaks and skits and tangents, it doesn't feel like a very like tense story.
00:52:47
Speaker
But like the novels are really good because...
00:52:52
Speaker
you can just like kind of follow along and there's not a lot of fluff between the but like like Chevy chasing parts where he's just going to go on a tangent and kind of drop like the insult and confuse awkward talk.
00:53:06
Speaker
yeah I feel like maybe classic Fletch is more just like smooth and charming. I also wonder if the novels are more like, because there's a lot of like voiceover from Chevy Chase as Fletch.
00:53:21
Speaker
I wonder if that's more of the style of the book. is i'm I'm not sure if they're like first person now but i feel like like that that voiceover stuff feels like that's like from the book more, maybe. but that's That's like classic noir detective. You need that inner monologue that lets you recap what's going on and lets you follow It'd be really hard to follow a ah mystery novel that doesn't have the inner voice monologue and it just straight up like, okay, we don't know what the guy's thinking. like It's just sort of like, I figured it out. Here's this. And you're like, oh, wait, how? Just, I thought about it.
00:53:56
Speaker
And we never hear it you never see this what i was like yeah you never like like hear any of his like the person like it's like conclusions or clues that he's like oh this this this leads to this it's like just silent till the end it's like here here's here it is think it'd be a fun comedy if like that you just you see the detective but because it's supposed to be like a mystery we still don't know like You know, like, you know, okay. you do it just like i know Like a noir with, like, no voiceover.
00:54:30
Speaker
No voice. Holy shit, it'd be really hard to follow. But it'd be funny if it's intentional. And it's just, like, one of those, um maybe at the end it all comes together with a big breakdown. But if not, for, the like, the longest time, you're just in silent and just sort of waiting.
00:54:44
Speaker
You know, like, okay. So I watched a lot of, like, other detective things recently. And if they don't... If the detective character or the investigator doesn't have another person to rattle off the details to, you have no idea how they got to certain conclusions.
00:55:05
Speaker
um So I've been watching a lot of Poker Face, Columbo. what ah It's a fun, weird combo. But I definitely highly i highly recommend re-watching Columbo after watching or finishing off Poker Face at some point.
00:55:18
Speaker
But The thing about like the detective stories, you always need someone to question the detective to get you to think this way. Or the detective will also accuse like the person they're trying to like but like tell like ah like reveal who's the mastermind or criminal, right?
00:55:36
Speaker
Mm-hmm. But if we never see that and you just get to the arrest part... It's very... Just be like, oh, he showed up, he asked questions, he walked away, and then he comes back and is like, here's my warrant, you're under arrest.
00:55:50
Speaker
You know what I mean? like You would just be like, oh. Because even in here, when Fletch like confronts Tim Matheson, it's like he kind of knew what was going to happen.
00:56:03
Speaker
Right? like He shows up and he's like, hey... this was a setup or something, you definitely... You were doing drug crimes and, like, are gonna flee and leave your, like, wife here. And Flesh doesn't call for backup.
00:56:15
Speaker
He doesn't have a gun. he just... You know i mean? Like, it's very, like, what was your plan? his his only His plan was, if you kill me and the the the paper doesn't hear from me by midnight, they're gonna publish this letter and they're gonna publish article and you'll you'll be... They'll reveal everything.
00:56:32
Speaker
But I'll be dead.
00:56:35
Speaker
What a crazy, like... Like, in reality, stupid payoff. You know? He could at least call, like, Gina Davis and be like, hey, are you waiting in the car?
00:56:50
Speaker
and you Can you, like, come with me?
00:56:56
Speaker
I guess maybe he could call the police because, like, the chief of police is, like, a drug runner. Like a drug kingpin, you can't cross any of the But he didn't know that the chief of police would be in the house, too.
00:57:08
Speaker
No, yeah, Jonah Baker just showed up just like, Hey, I heard... ah heard things were like, you were going to lead the country. was standing outside that window the entire time. Yeah, Jonah Baker doesn't live there. How did he just sort of break in the house and just wait by the curtain?
00:57:26
Speaker
Yeah, you got you there slightly after Fletch, just it' like standing outside the window listening to everything. He'd be like, What? $3 million? He's going to Rio. I'm going to kill him. $3 million jobs back in 1984 or 85?
00:57:40
Speaker
Yeah. It's like $20 million. You
00:57:48
Speaker
checking the math? Yeah.
00:57:54
Speaker
That'd be... Oh, $8.9 million. Oh.
00:58:00
Speaker
Man, I don't know how money works.
00:58:03
Speaker
Still a lot. Still a lot. And if you're going to South America, probably that'll last you a while.
00:58:11
Speaker
So, yeah, the... Fletch is fine. I'm not saying it's, like, a bad movie. It's just, like, for me, it just doesn't age well.
00:58:23
Speaker
And it's just, like, you think the premise of Chevy Chase changing characters or, like, you know, personas and stuff like that would be this bigger, like,
00:58:35
Speaker
more more of the like the big reveal, where it's like, aha, like I was able to infiltrate them with this person, and then you know like reveal this at the end. It's like, wait, aren't you the doctor? Aren't you the mechanic? Aren't you like this person? He's like, I'm all of them.
00:58:50
Speaker
Yeah, if it he's he's like a flawless, like he can just like perfectly impersonate people and get in there. Instead of just him being him. Yep, I think that's what I think I'll like I thought would happen.
00:59:05
Speaker
And like as a kid I didn't know any better. Because that's told you if you. It's meant to be watched in more mature view. And when you watch it now. It's just like the stakes are lower. Because everything else has been crazier.
00:59:19
Speaker
and like other medias. So Fletch is a very perfect time capsule. of like Of like 85 equivalent. Of like Master of Disguise.
00:59:29
Speaker
and st It's definitely more like. Chevy's definitely more like low key. In this one. Like, it's not like he's not Clark Gisrall, like screaming, and like, like getting like you know, Cassie just running around, like yelling at people. Like, it's it's much is its much more like a, like, it's a lot of, like, subtle little jabs at people or, like, muttering under his breath or, you know, a quick, like, like insult the people.
00:59:55
Speaker
but ah but he's not, he's that like, you know, he's not like a cartoon character, like, running around screaming at people. Yeah. Nah, but I feel like I wouldn't mind another version like that. Like an unhinged Chevy Chase. Like real life Chevy Chase.
01:00:09
Speaker
Which, um yeah man, not a good guy. He's like really mean to people. So I wouldn't mind a version of this movie. I wonder if there's like a ah director's cut of Fletch where it's just like me Chevy like yelling and kind of like poking fun of his co-stars and making them cry.
01:00:30
Speaker
And then just sort of like, yeah, that's the version we want. that's the That's what we want Fletch to be, like an asshole. But yeah, like I said, they'd reign it in as he's actually a good guy, somewhat.
01:00:46
Speaker
But I think yeah and I got to see if in one other reboot from now, would they ever do an asshole Fletch?
01:01:01
Speaker
I feel like I gotta find one of the books and just like read like read the one of the books and just see how that is. How ah the character is in the books compared the movies. I think one of them I heard was like Son of Fletch or something where it's like his kid.
01:01:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think they were talking about ah like the like Gregory McDonald was talking about like before he died like ah in 2008 like some sort some sort of um Oh, there's whole bunch, like, he's got a bunch of, like, yeah there's you know, there's Son of Fletch and Fletch Reflected are, like, the Son of Fletch books.
01:01:40
Speaker
And then there's, like, a there's like ah I think there's a character get introduced in one of the Fletch books that he spun off into, a like, a different series. Francis or x Xavier Flynn. that, like, a Fletch persona that, like, came alive?
01:01:51
Speaker
Maybe, yeah. And Fletch sort of lives out that fantasy of that life. Oh, that character was introduced in Confess Fletch. So that character's probably in, like, the Jon Hamm movie, maybe.
01:02:05
Speaker
You know, there wasn't a huge lead-up to Confess Fletch. was just like... Anyway, this movie just came out on streaming. Go check it out. Yeah, didn't it just, like, drop to, like, Peacock or something, I think, right?
01:02:17
Speaker
think. It was just sort of There it is. Like, what? like Was there any, like, premiere? Was there any kind of, like, Jon Hamm press tour? It just sort of showed up one day. Mm-hmm.
01:02:28
Speaker
It wasn't like, you know, sometimes when you see, like, a revile coming or even a bigger release of something, they kind of replay, like, the movie or, like, they'll be more like, hey, you know what's coming on DVD now to get ready for this movie? Like, Fletch.
01:02:44
Speaker
Yeah, like a 4K or something. It's a Fletch. Not even that.
01:02:51
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think Fletch is... ah Streaming anywhere, like least for free, you can like, i think you can like, rent it from a bunch, like, you like rent it or buy it from a bunch of places, but it's not on, you know, it's not Prime Video or anything like that. And the crazy thing is like, this isn't a cult movie. It's like a very popular 80s movie.
01:03:15
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
01:03:18
Speaker
Yeah, for me for me, I would probably put it mid-tier Chevy Chase, like, toward toward the more of the middle, the upper middle. I would definitely put Caddyshack Vacation, Christmas Vacation, Three Amigos.
01:03:32
Speaker
yeah, Three Amigos is way higher on the list. I think Chevy Chase works great in an ensemble. I don't care for solo Chevy Chase movies. Yeah, yeah.
Chevy Chase in Ensemble Casts vs Solo Roles
01:03:44
Speaker
Definitely, if you have someone like else, ah like, you know, Spice Like Us, he had Dan Aykroyd with him, Three Migos, obviously, Steve Martin, Martin Short, so. Yeah, if he's like a guy like buddy with him, or something, even like vacation, like Randy Quaid bouncing off of him.
01:04:04
Speaker
mean, he can play the serious man at times, and it's fine, but this version is just him ranting at people that we'll never see again the movie. one ah see yeah what character one scene. and you I mean, usually it's like a ah like ah a fun like character actor, like a famous character actor person, but... It just seems like an SNL skit.
01:04:31
Speaker
Yeah. Still pretty solid, like, if you haven't watched in a while I would say check it out celebrate its 40th anniversary
01:04:41
Speaker
and uh come back next week for the podcast because we are getting our asses to Mars and talking about Total Recall uh which is celebrating its 35th anniversary so we'll be back for that uh I think the movie we're much more excited and lives much higher in our memories than Fletch, Chris.
Teaser for Next Episode and Conclusion
01:05:02
Speaker
I don't think I need to re-watch Total Recall. Total Recall? It's like burned into your... I can recall it from my mind. I've watched that movie too much. You went to Recall had it burned into your brain. Well, no. I actually lived that life, and now my my lie is this.
01:05:18
Speaker
I'm waking up from my programming. You went to Recall and you're like, make me a... Make me a ah podcaster. Like talking about ah old movies.
01:05:32
Speaker
And then it's like, oh, here he already has that. His brain's been reactivating. Oh, God.
01:05:40
Speaker
yeah, so we'll dive into next week. I'm sure we'll debate the is it real or not question.
01:05:47
Speaker
Is it all just like a crazy aneurysm he's having? Well, there's also like a Fletch moment in that movie too. Is every movie Fletch? We're in a string of like disguises.
01:05:58
Speaker
It's disguise month.
01:06:03
Speaker
So yeah, coming up for that, head over to the site, we also have like a bunch of stuff up there. We got our, we got bunch of trailers, we got news, reviews. um I got a review of Fear Street Prom Queen. If you want to check out my review from ah last weekend's new Fear Street Slasher movie on Netflix.
01:06:20
Speaker
And we're going to have our GameBox 2.0 for May, so you can check out the the games we played in May, ah if not up now, soon on the site. And speaking games, you can also go back and check out our trip report from PAX East.
01:06:33
Speaker
We have a huge article talking about everything we saw at PAX East earlier this month, you can head over check that out. And of our YouTube stuff is up there as well, head over all stuff out. And yes, of course, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week.
01:06:48
Speaker
For more Foreverly Action head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow on X at Evie Action.
01:07:02
Speaker
We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. To find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice, be sure to rate and subscribe.