Fletch Lives
When there's more trouble than one man can handle...There's more than one man for the job.
Chevy Chase returns to the screen as the reckless reporter I.M. Fletcher, investigative reporter in Fletch Lives.
This time, the chameleon-like reporter ventures to Belle Isle, a sprawling 80-acre Louisiana plantation which Fletch inherits from his aunt. Trouble beings when a lovely attorney mysteriously turns up dead, a neighborly lawyer (Hal Holbrook) warns him to leave town and a ravishing real estate agent (Julianne Phillips) comes calling with a persistent offer he may not be able to refuse.
Fletch must unravel the reason for the mad land scramble with his trademark bag of hilarious disguises in this fast-moving comedy.
Member Reviews
Missing something - thenewguy
Fletch Lives is the sequel to Fletch. Our hero, Fletch, is a new reporter who specializes in going under cover to dig up facts. In Fletch Lives we follow our hero to the deep south where he has just inherited a large piece of land and a run-down house.
Several people want Fletch's land and are willing to lock him up, shoot at him or help him to get it. Most of the scenes involve Fletch dressing up, trying to fast-talk people out of information and escaping from angry bad guys.
Though Fletch Lives has much of the same spirit and approach as the original, it feels like it's missing something. We see the same sorts of costumes, similar one-liners and there's a mystery plot, just as with the original film, but this one fell a bit flat. It's still funny, but I felt it doesn't flow quite as well, doesn't feel as quick-paced and quick-witted.
For Chevy Chase fans it's still a good flick, but I don't think it lives up to the previous film.They should have adapted another one of the books... - Superdave
This movie for me epitomizes the arrogance of Hollywood. The first Fletch movie was a hit, thanks in large part to the fact that it was a fairly faithful adaptation of the first book in the Fletch series by Gregory MacDonald. The book was a tightly woven, well-plotted mystery in which a smart character solved the crime by buffaloing less clued-in types. However, when time came to make a sequel, the studio decided that none of the other dozen or so Fletch novels would be suitable and so put together a generic comedy mystery with a plot right out of Scooby-Doo. This is dumbed down generic 80s action junk of the worst sort, partially saved by Chevy Chase's deadpan use of the trademark Fletch trick of disguising himself and impersonating people to get information. The gimmick still works, but it's in service of much inferior story, and this simply shouldn't be. A hit book series produces an original hit movie, so why mess with something that works? Simply put, Hollywood studios are staffed by people who think they know better but don't. This movie for me was a disappointment, and since it flopped the Fletch series ended here, when Chase could easily have made a career out of starring as Fletch in adaptations of several books before Chase-as-Fletch wore out his welcome.Good, but nowhere near the original - shale
Perhaps it is because Fletch is such a great movie, one of my favourite comedies of all time, that Fletch Lives just seems to fall flat. It seems that they concentrated more on the costumes this time around and less on the witty Chevy Chase one liners, which is very unfortunate. Fletch Lives has some great moments, but all the pieces don't come together as wonderfully as they did in Fletch.
This is worth checking out for fans of the original, but set your hopes too high.
Member Reviews
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Missing something - thenewguy
Fletch Lives is the sequel to Fletch. Our hero, Fletch, is a new reporter who specializes in going under cover to dig up facts. In Fletch Lives we follow our hero to the deep south where he has just inherited a large piece of land and a run-down house.
Several ...They should have adapted another one of the books... - Superdave
This movie for me epitomizes the arrogance of Hollywood. The first Fletch movie was a hit, thanks in large part to the fact that it was a fairly faithful adaptation of the first book in the Fletch series by Gregory MacDonald. The book was a tightly woven, ...Good, but nowhere near the original - shale
Perhaps it is because Fletch is such a great movie, one of my favourite comedies of all time, that Fletch Lives just seems to fall flat. It seems that they concentrated more on the costumes this time around and less on the witty Chevy Chase one liners, which ...