I bought it on iTunes with Mr. Underhill’s credit card. Want the number?

Loads of fun. Aside from Griswold, this is probably Chase's best role. Just such a great send up and the perfect vehicle for his talents.

I am a total sucker for 1980's Chevy Chase movies. I really do love nearly all of them. He had a real nice decade with "Caddyshack", "Vacation", and the very funny "Fletch". Fletch is not quite the cartoon character that Clark Griswold or Ty Webb were, but Fletch himself plays a kind of master of disguises that gives Chase the ability to morph into a variety of characters, and that's what makes this movie a kick. There are so many subtle things that Chase does to get a laugh here. I am especially fond of his plane inspector disguise which I still quote with regularity. This is probably the most dated of the 80's Chase flicks but I think that's largely due to the synth-heavy soundtrack. I'm at the age where my tastes in comedy were being formed by the Chase, Bill Murray, and Eddie Murphy vehicles that were so prevalent in the 80's. But I really think many younger and older people will still be able to find a lot to laugh at watching "Fletch".

Fletch is a classic ‘80s comedy that’s outrageously fun and full of laughs. Chevy Chase stars as Irwin Fletcher, an investigative reporter whose exposé on L.A. drug smuggling takes a bizarre turn when he receives an unusual proposition from a wealthy businessman. The film is especially effective at using the type of SNL sketch comedy that Chase is so good at, and he gives a seminal performance that made Fletch into one of the most popular and beloved characters of his career. Additionally, the storytelling does an impressive job at building intrigue as Fletch’s investigation unfolds. Cleverly written and brilliantly executed, Fletch is a hilarious comedy that’s tremendously entertaining.

It’s telling that Chevy Chase still considers _Fletch_ a personal favorite, given that the script (which “allowed me to be myself”) largely presents him as a smarmy, below-the-belt asshole. He’s only the hero of this story because the other lowlifes kicking around its ugly rendition of mid ‘80s Los Angeles - twisted cops, cantankerous editors and white-collar criminals - are even bigger jerks than he is. Yet, regardless of how much of a reach this role may (not) have been for the famously prickly _SNL_ alum, there’s no question he makes it his own. _Fletch_’s rambling, lackadaisical personality is an ideal fit for its star, who lankily jaunts through a large number of wardrobe changes and sticky situations, only to get serious at the last possible moment and frantically ad-lib his way to safety. He constantly gets to play the smartest/wittiest guy in the room, he bags both girls, the production always finds time for a few extra physical Chevy-isms... no wonder he enjoyed himself! The plot revolves around a one-man murder contract. Working undercover as a hobo, LA Times columnist Fletch is mistaken for the genuine article and recruited to help a CEO commit suicide without triggering the disclaimers on his life insurance policy. Easier to get away with this, I guess, if the perp is a complete nobody. On the surface, the whole scheme is presented as a busy, shadowy conspiracy, but as we get closer to the point, everything becomes very loose and convenient. The complications only exist so Chase has a reason to don a disguise and launch a fat-fingered fishing expedition in various locations. That continuous dress-up act sometimes bears fruit (the prostate exam is particularly funny) but more often plays as forced and unimaginative. Maybe if we put him in a *different* silly hat, the audience will be distracted from how redundant this scene is! At the end of the day, _Fletch_ offers a few good riffs and a remarkably of-its-time soundtrack by Harold Faltermeyer, but very little heart or purpose. I kept waiting for this to find a higher gear, but it was content to putz around at or below the speed limit for a hundred minutes.