Netflix Notes: 24June2007

Fletch Lives [1989]

I had rented the original Fletch a week earlier, and had found that one to hold up remarkably well, and show Chevy Chase in fine form...In fact, I'd argue his work in the first Fletch was the high point of his career. I cannot say the same about Fletch Lives, wherein Chase seems a bit sluggish, and appears to be sticking pretty close to a script that is clunky and not very funny. There is a somewhat surreal dream sequence very early in the movie, and it really sticks out in hindsight because it is the ONLY dream sequence in the film. As I recall, there was only one dream sequence in the original, and in the filmmaking rulebook in my mind, this is a mistake, because you either do several dream sequences, or none at all. Elsewhere in Fletch Lives there are Southern stereotypes of all sorts, because this is yr typical "fish out of water" story, with LA journalist Fletch inhereting a decrepit southern manor in Louisiana. Fletch encounters bikers, preachers, rednecks, Klansmen, an evil corporation dumping toxic sludge, not to mention a questionable House Negro named Calculus Entropy, as played without much ado by Cleavon Little. Of course, because it's Fletch, there are a bunch of costumes/disguises throughout. Keeping with the idea of diminished returns, the disguises in Fletch Lives aren't as good or convincing or inspired as those from the original, and the same might be said of the pseudonyms Fletch uses for these "characters"...The only good reason I might have to recommend this film, is if you have a desire to see Randall "Tex" Cobb, shirtless and wearing blue eye shadow for about 30 seconds. 2 out of 5

Summer Rental [1985]

John Candy is a burnt out air traffic controller [there are alot of air traffic controller characters in '80's cinema, isn't there?] named Jack Chester who is forced by his boss to take a much needed vacation, so Jack loads up the car and his family, and they're off to to a time-share beachfront house in Florida for a few weeks...Hilarity is supposed to ensue at this point, but really, it doesn't. I remember liking Summer Rental when I saw it in the theaters with a couple of friends in 1985, but maybe that's just my absolute worship of John Candy, which mostly continues to this day. But to be fair and honest, through the lense of 2007, this film now plays as bonafide family fare, with the exception of half-dozen naughty words sprinkled throughout. Candy as Jack Chester is a mostly lovable shlub, and his physical comedy, as usual, is top-notch, but none of it is actually very funny. Rip Torn plays Scully The Buccaneer, but it's rather unremarkable if yr a fan of his work as Arthur on The Larry Sanders Show, and the heavy is played by Richard Crenna as only Richard Crenna can, and if you know what I mean, then maybe this movie really is meant for you. Otherwise, a young Joey Lawrence plays one of Candy's kids, and maybe he's yr thing... 2 out of 5

Volunteers [1985]

Another John Candy film from 1985, although Tom Hanks gets top-billing here, in what I believe is his fifth feature film. It's also worth mentioning that Volunteers was the second time Hanks and Candy had worked together, the first being Splash from the previous year. If yr thinking that maybe this film kinda reeks of "cashing in" on that film's bonafide success, you may be right, although it can be said that the two actors do work well together...Also of note, this is the film on which Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson met, and right now, they must be one of the longest-married couples in Hollywood...As for the film itself...It's really not that bad...Hanks ably plays the smarmy rich college graduate, who ends up in the Peace Corps in Thailand, trying to run away from a gambling debt. For such a crass cad, Hanks makes us like and care for him, and while the "romance" between him and Wilson's character, Beth Wexler, is neccesary in this kind of film, it still feels a bit intrusive in the overall film, and even unlikely, despite the pair's obvious chemistry. For his part, John Candy plays Tom Tuttle from Tacoma, Washington with great gusto, in a role that plays to his strengths, and feels like something ripped from his old SCTV playbook...What we end up with is 105 minutes of blackmarket warlords, Communists, volunteer do-gooders, crooked military men, alot of opium smoking and drug references, a bridge over the river ???, and the lesson that Capitalism, Communism, and Organized Crime are equally adept at getting things done, as long as there is plenty of cheap labor to exploit. Several one liners had me laughing out loud, and overall, it's a pretty solid comedy that shows a bit why Hanks would go on to become a true superstar leading man. 3 out of 5

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