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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/drop_dead_fred_movie_poster_1991.jpg]]
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3''Drop Dead Fred'' is a 1991 comedy film directed by Ate de Jong, starring Creator/PhoebeCates and Creator/RikMayall.
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5Elizabeth "Lizzie" Cronin (Cates) has had a horrible day, her entire life falling apart within a single lunch hour. First, while trying to reconcile with her husband over his affair, he dumps her. Her purse and then car are stolen as she tries to figure out what to do about her life, and finally she loses her job. Lizzie's controlling mother Polly (Marsha Mason) arrives on the scene and Shanghais Lizzie into staying with her. Upon returning to her childhood home and exploring her old room, Lizzie discovers an old, taped up jack-in-the-box. When she opens it, Lizzie ends up releasing her childhood imaginary friend Drop Dead Fred (Mayall), whom her mother had trapped inside the toy many years ago.
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7Having been imprisoned in the toy for twenty-three years, Fred is surprised to find Lizzie grown up, depressed and piled under her unhappy life. As her imaginary friend, he tries to help her put things back together and cheer her up like he did when she was little. Fred's [[BlueAndOrangeMorality sense of humour]] and disregard for consequences [[HilarityEnsues cause some more problems for Elizabeth]], but he ultimately helps her rediscover her inner child and the strength to live her own life free from her domineering, emotionally abusive mother.
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9Originally this film was panned by critics and not much of a box office success; however, over the years it has been able to achieve a cult status, especially as an American introduction to Rik Mayall.
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12!!This movie contains examples of:
13* AbusiveParents: Lizzie's mother definitely goes into this area.
14* AffectionateNickname: Fred’s for Lizzie is "Snotface".
15* AmbiguouslyBi: For the majority of the film, Lizzie is in love with Charles, her husband (although the latter is a total {{Jerkass}}). She also shares a [[OfficialKiss kiss]] with [[spoiler: Fred before saying goodbye to him towards the end of the film.]] However, Drop Dead Fred, her {{Imaginary Friend}} who clearly represents aspect of herself, likes looking up women’s skirts. The case for this seems to be that Lizzie is sexually repressed and that her mother and husband keep her controlled in a childlike state.
16* AnAesop: Elizabeth's greatest fear is being alone. After defending herself against her mother and freeing her younger self in her dream, Fred tells her now that she has herself (her younger self), she doesn't need him any more. The hidden message is that you are never really alone as long as you have yourself.
17* AndIMustScream: Fred was sealed in the Jack-in-the-Box throughout Elizabeth's childhood before being released.
18* AndThisIsFor: Janie accidentally outs her affair with Murray when trying to attack Fred:
19-->"That's for the boat! And that's for ruining the one schtoop I get a month when Murray's wife is out of town!"\
20''(freezes, [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud notices everyone around her watching]])''
21* AnimatedCreditsOpening: Done in the style of children's drawings.
22* AppliedPhlebotinum: The green pills.
23* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: Insurance doesn't work that way. Unless Janie had the good sense to file her claim as an accident rather than her overstressed, mentally ill friend's nutjob imaginary companion.
24* TheBabyTrap: Polly tried to keep her husband by becoming pregnant with Lizzie. When this still didn't work and he left, she ended up putting the blame on her daughter.
25* BaitAndSwitch: When Lizzie finds out that Charles is still cheating on her, Fred tells her to leave him. Lizzie says she can't because... she's scared to be alone. This is what prompts Fred to take her on a spiritual journey to finally conquer her fears.
26* BewareTheSillyOnes: Having an imaginary friend in adulthood leads Lizzie to committing alot of damaging behaviours, including sinking her best friend's houseboat and attacking a violinist.
27* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Lizzie finally finds happiness in her life, but she can no longer see Fred.]] However, [[spoiler:Fred hasn't gone far as he is now the imaginary friend of Mickey's (Lizzie's childhood friend) daughter and Lizzie realizes this when she notices the little pinkie sign she used to do with Fred.]]
28* BookEnds: The film starts with Lizzie losing her husband, her purse, her car, ''and'' her job within one hour, all because her husband cheated on her. At the end, Charles (the aforementioned husband) loses his wife, his girlfriend and ''his'' car ''in one minute'', all because he was ''still'' cheating on Lizzie.
29* BunnyEarsLawyer: Janie. She's apparently a professional woman with a high-paying job, but she is also a complete flake who is very much into New Age type thinking and is uncommonly accepting of the very strange. When Lizzie tells her about Fred she simply accepts it, and when Fred sinks her houseboat she gets mad at ''Fred'' (not Lizzie) and tries to beat him up.
30* CassandraTruth: Played with from so many different angles among the characters, per Lizzie's claim regarding Fred's "existence", you almost don't know where to start!
31* CharacterTitle: Drop Dead Fred is Lizzie's imaginary friend, and arguably the deuteragonist of the film.
32* CloudCuckooLander:
33** Exaggerated with Lizzie herself.
34** Mickey. While he's a well-meaning guy, who genuinely cares about Lizzie, he is also charmed by her strange behaviour, and behaves inappropriately at a restaurant.
35** Janie. She shows no concern about her best friend having an ImaginaryFriend in adulthood, is only slightly irritated about ''loosing every possession she owns'', and while beating up Fred, outs her affair with her boss.
36* CringeComedy: With lots of physical comedy and toilet humour.
37* DefrostingIceQueen: Polly. [[spoiler: Throughout the movie she treats Lizzie very coldly. However, she finally opens up to her daughter and asks her not to leave her alone]].
38* DirtyOldMan: Murray.
39-->'''Murray''': I never had imaginary friends. Just wet dreams.
40-->'''Janie''': You kiss your mother with that mouth, Murr?
41* DisappearedDad: Lizzie was only conceived because Polly believed that having a child might save her failing marriage to her husband Nigel. However, they couldn't agree on how to raise her; when Polly finally gets sick of Lizzie's antics with Fred and decides to imprison him in a jack-in-the-box, Nigel insists she's making a mistake, but she dismisses his opinion as irrelevant. This proves to be the last straw for their marriage, and Polly's treatment of Lizzie becomes even more strict and manipulative without Nigel to rein her in.
42* FanserviceExtra: A male example. A really hot waiter wearing only a toga accidentally gets stripped by Fred at one point.
43* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Apparently, Graggy is this for the Imaginary Friends Gang.
44* FromBadToWorse: Lizzie earns {{Woobie}} status less than 10 minutes into the film, in which her husband doesn't want to reconcile, her purse is stolen from her car, and then a passerby uses the broken window to gain entry and steal her car. Then...
45-->''(Court reporter Lizzie barges into courtroom over an hour late)''
46-->'''Lizzie''': I'm sorry, Your Honor, I lost my money, my car, my husband...
47-->'''Judge''': All in one lunch hour?...Will the court reporter approach the bench, please?
48-->'''Lizzie''': I'm sorry.
49-->'''Judge''': So am I; you're fired.
50* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: Even as a child, Lizzie apparently learned some... interesting words.
51-->'''Young Lizzie:''' Did they live happily ever after?
52-->'''Polly:''' Of Course Elizabeth.
53-->'''Young Lizzie:''' How do you know?
54-->'''Polly:''' Because, she was a good little girl, if she would have been naughty, the Prince would have run away.
55-->'''Young Lizzie:''' What a pile of shit.
56* GilliganCut: Lizzie's mom tells her that she's coming home with her, Lizzie attempts to assert that she's staying in her own apartment, only for the scene to cut to her being driven home by her mother.
57* GreatGazoo: Fred.
58* ImaginaryFriend: Fred of course. Although some of his behavior makes him look more like an ImaginaryEnemy in some sequences.
59* InSeriesNickname: Fred has a few nicknames for Polly. His most common is The Megabitch[=/=]Megabeast. And for Lizzie, more affectionately, Snotface.
60* {{Jerkass}}:
61** Let's see, he breaks stuff, smears dog crap on the carpet, mocks Lizzie about her husband leaving her, causes havoc at a resturaunt, makes Lizzie look completely batshit (that is, if you don't already think that about her), oh, and ''destroys Janie's home and everything she owns for no apparent reason other than his amusement''. [[SarcasmMode Yeah, Fred is totally the friend we all need.]]
62** Charles as well, what with the whole extramarital affair, and then acting like Lizzie needs to "just let him live his life." And if what Annabella said is any indication, he wasn't particularly interested in Lizzie until ''after'' her makeover, which she didn't even want in the first place. Oh, and he married her because he ''can'' control her.
63** The judge who fires Lizzie because she was late ''even though it was only because she had her car stolen and couldn't possibly make it to work in time''. [[note]]Less so in a DeletedScene where Lizzie falls into a daydream, and thus fails to record a report that would later be asked to be recalled.[[/note]]
64* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Although [[LargeHam Drop Dead Fred]] is a crude, annoying, unhelpful and mischievous troublemaker who causes a great deal of problems and stress for Lizzie, he does genuinely care for her and her happiness. [[spoiler: At the end of the film, he sees that Lizzie is happy with her life and that she doesn't need him anymore. The both of them kiss before saying goodbye.]]
65* JumpScare: Fred freaks Lizzie out by re-appearing right in front of her yelling "BOO!"
66-->'''Fred''': Ha ha ha, shit yourself?
67* LargeHam: Rik Mayall as Fred.
68* LaserGuidedKarma: When Annabella finally decides she can no longer keep seeing Charles on the side, she dumps him. Straight after, Lizzie, having overheard him talking to Annabella, dumps a bowl of salad and leaves him for good.
69* ManChild: Fred.
70* MaybeEverAfter: The last scene implies Lizzie will end up together with [[spoiler:Mickey, [[ChildhoodFriendRomance her childhood playmate]] and a man much kinder than Charles]].
71* MyBelovedSmother: Polly, Polly, Polly. She micromanages absolutely every aspect of her daughter's life, effectively keeping her in a childlike state. It's telling that when [[spoiler:Elizabeth finally has the courage to leave Charles once and for all, his first instinct is to call Polly in the hope that she can manipulate Elizabeth into returning to him]].
72* NeverGrewUp: Implied that a person might not actually grow out of needing their imaginary friend. They can take the green pills that will inevitably kill their friend [[spoiler:or in Lizzie's case figure out and defeat what it is that is making them unhappy.]]
73* NeverMyFault: Polly blames Lizzie for Nigel leaving her, when really, it was because he couldn't stand the emotional abuse she heaped on poor Lizzie.
74-->'''Polly:''' I guess I made a mistake anyone could make, I had a child to save a marriage.\
75'''Lizzie:''' How could you say that?\
76'''Polly:''' Well, you only made things worse! He ''left'' because of ''you''!\
77'''Lizzie:''' ''[[CallingTheOldManOut What a pile of shit]]''.
78* NotAfraidOfYouAnymore: [[spoiler:During the climax, Lizzie finally yells this at a representation of her mother.]]
79* NoSympathy: The judge who was Lizzie's boss fires her even after hearing that she lost her money, car, and husband all in one hour. [[note]]It's more justified in a DeletedScene where Lizzie falls into a daydream, and thus fails to record a report that would later be asked to be recalled.[[/note]]
80* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Fred.
81* OfficialKiss: [[spoiler: Although it was short, Lizzie and Fred share one before they both say goodbye.]]
82* PercussiveMaintenance: Fred thinks Lizzie wants him to do this to Janie's houseboat. He winds up sinking it.
83* {{Poltergeist}}: Fred can interact with people and things, even give the illusion that he can appear as another person (the violinist in the mall).
84* RedheadInGreen: Fred has an outfit for every occasion, but definitely doesn't believe in branching out, chromatically.
85* RichBitch: Polly.
86* SchmuckBait:
87-->'''Fred''': You want me to go away? Fine, just say the magic words and I'll piss off!
88-->'''Lizzie''': Piss off!
89-->'''Fred''': Gotcha! Those aren't the magic words!
90-->'''Polly''': What did you say to me?
91-->'''Fred''': She told you to piss off, what are ya, deaf?!
92* SheCleansUpNicely: Lizzie at the wine tasting.
93* ShrinkingViolet: Adult Lizzie starts the film out as one of these.
94* SpeakOfTheDevil:
95-->'''Fred''': That's ''sooooo'' namby-pamby!
96-->'''Namby-Pamby''': You called? (appears)
97-->'''Fred and his friends''': NAMBY-PAMBY! WHOOOOAAA!
98* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
99-->'''Elizabeth''': Mother, do you remember when I was little, I had a friend, he was make-believe?
100-->'''Polly''': No.
101-->'''Elizabeth''': Don't you remember, I was the only one could see him?
102-->'''Polly''': No, I don't remember Drop Dead Fred at all.
103* ThemeNaming: One of the other imaginary friends is credited as "Go To Hell Herman".
104* TitleDrop: Whenever Fred's full moniker is used.
105* ToiletHumour: In one scene, Fred smears dog poop on Polly's carpet.
106* TooDumbToLive: Janie. Or at least too dumb for her house to live. If someone comes to you, talking about an "imaginary friend" that they blame for the destruction of your home, the correct reaction is ''not'' an irritated sigh. The ''correct'' reaction is to have them committed, and fast, because they are dangerous.
107** Considering the immediate follow-up to said sigh was to believe in said imaginary friend and then very publicly try to physically assault him - in the middle of a meeting at her own workplace - her initial reaction could have been the beginning of a slow mental breakdown.
108* TraumaticHaircut: Fred does this to Lizzie's new 'do while she's sleeping. And also once when she was younger.
109* TricksterMentor: [[{{Jerkass}} Fred]]'s HiddenDepths.
110* UnwantedAssistance: Lizzie in understandably displeased by Fred's attempts to make her lighten up. It isn't until the climax that she realizes why she needed him all along.
111* VisibleToBelievers: Fred is an ImaginaryFriend who was sealed in a Jack-In-The-Box for many years, until his creator accidentally releases him. Presumably if he hadn't been sealed up he'd have been out in the world even if he had no longer been believed in.

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