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2[[caption-width-right:300:Un-be-lieve-a-ble!]]
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4''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane'' is a 1990 film and [[BilledAboveTheTitle star vehicle]] for [[TheEighties 80's]] [[StandUpComedy comedian]] Creator/AndrewDiceClay, who plays the eponymous Ford Fairlane. It's also notable for being an early work of Finnish director Creator/RennyHarlin and being [[VideoFullOfFilmClips featured in the music video]] for Music/BillyIdol's "Cradle of Love."
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6Ford Fairlane (Clay) is a [[PrivateDetective private investigator]] who specializes in the Hollywood music industry. His business, run by himself and his assistant, Jazz (Creator/LaurenHolly), is experiencing financial difficulties because [[ProBonoBarter most of his clients keep paying him with expensive gifts instead of money]]. Eventually, he's hired by two seemingly unrelated clients, shock-jock DJ Johnny Crunch (Creator/GilbertGottfried) and humorless socialite Colleen Sutton (Creator/PriscillaPresley), to find a young groupie named [[Film/ItsAWonderfulLife Zuzu Petals]]. Although he has reservations, [[MoneyDearBoy they offer him cash]]. His investigations lead him through a cast of colorful characters, including sleazy record producer Julian Grendel (Wayne Newton), a giggling mercenary known only as "Smiley" (Creator/RobertEnglund), the bumbling, nostalgic cop Lieutenant Amos (Creator/EdONeill), and eventually to Zuzu Petals herself (Creator/MaddieCorman), a [[CloudCuckoolander space cadet]].
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8----
9!!This film provides examples of:
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11* FiveFiveFive: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the opening scene when Fairlane gives his number to a young hottie he meets at a club. She protests, telling him that 555 isn't a real number, just one used in movies. He responds with "Yeah--no shit, honey, what do you think this is, [[BreakingTheFourthWall real life]]?"
12* AccidentalPublicConfession: Type 3. During the climax of the movie, [[spoiler: Ford Fairlane lures antagonist Julian Grendel backstage, where the latter brags about the details of his evil scheme. Unbeknownst to him, Zuzu Petals is standing behind him with a microphone, and his flamboyant boasting is heard by the crowd.]]
13--> [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking "I even pissed in the punch bowl!"]]
14* ActorAllusion: One of the lines from Ford Fairlane's narration says "I could have been a rock star, if only I wasn't banned from MTV." Creator/AndrewDiceClay was reportedly "banned for life" from MTV following his appearance at the 1989 [=VMAs=] due to performing his foul-mouthed routine at the event. (He would eventually appear again after this film was released three years later, in a sketch at the 1992 [=VMAs=].)
15* AntiHero: Ford is an UnscrupulousHero at best or a NominalHero at his worst.
16* BarSlide: Fairlane does this to Sam the Sleazebag during the opening scene.
17-->'''Fairlane:''' You're two seconds away from the most embarrassing moment of your life.
18* BreakingTheFourthWall: There are a few instances of this, particularly at the beginning and at the end.
19-->[[spoiler:"What, you didn't think we'd kill the fluckin' ''koala,'' did ya?"]]
20* TheCameo: MTV VJ Kurt Loder makes a brief appearance AsHimself.
21* ChekhovsGag: "Hit paydirt with K-Dirt!"
22* ChekhovsGun: The Sambuka Milkshake.
23* CloudCuckoolander: Zuzu Petals, having moved well beyond [[TheDitz just ditzy.]]
24* CombatPragmatist: When Smiley confronts Ford at the end of the film, Ford says the two should settle it with their fists, mano-a-mano. When Smiley throws down his gun, Ford just uses his own gun to shoot him dead.
25* CoolCar: True to his name, Ford owns a very nice '57 Ford Fairlane.
26* DiscoDan:
27** Andrew Dice Clay's [[StockJokes stand-up comedy shtick]] is basically that of a [[TheFifties 1950's]] [[GreaserDelinquents greaser]]. Fairlane, as a character, is only different in that he's given a ''slightly'' updated look.
28** Lieutenant Amos is a much more literal example. Besides being an incompetent cop, the full extent of Amos's characterization is his obsession with the [[TheSeventies 70's]]. He used to be the lead singer for Disco Express; he breaks out into the chorus of their one hit single, "Booty Time," at every opportunity. He dresses professionally in most of his appearances (although he does have the [[PornStache mustache]]), and does eventually show up in his 70's leisure suit.
29* DoubleEntendre: Several examples throughout the film, most of them from Ford Fairlane.
30* DumbassDJ: Johnny Crunch, the "King of the Shock Jocks," played by professional loudmouth Gilbert Gottfried.
31* EveryoneHasStandards: As awful as he is, Ford is horrified when he sees kids smoking and doesn't like them swearing either.
32* FakeBand:
33** The Black Plague, whose lead singer, Bobby Black, drops dead during the opening credits. The Black Plague plays one song during the movie, which is actually the song "Rock N Roll Junkie" by Mötley Crüe.
34** Also Disco Express, Lieutenant Amos's former band.
35** FF and The Captain, former band of Ford and Johnny when they moved to Hollywood.
36** The Condom Factory front also features a long list of fake band names.
37* {{Fanservice}}:
38** The scene at the [[MeaningfulName I Eta Pi]] sorority house, oh so very much.
39** Also the girl from the "Cradle of Love" music video that is a VideoFullOfFilmClips from this film, not featured in the movie itself but still worth noting.
40* FilmNoir: The film is a comedic one, heavily inspired by 1950's pulp crime novels and private eye tropes.
41* TheFunInFuneral: The funeral for posthumous character Bobby Black is a circus to begin with, starting with a sleazy guy scalping tickets and offering discounts to women who, um, service him first. It only goes downhill from there, when Smiley shows up to kidnap Zuzu Petals. Ford and Smiley have a merry car chase through the cemetery, knocking over Bobby Black's circular glass casket in the process, causing it to roll downhill with screaming fangirls in hot pursuit.
42* GigglingVillain: Creator/RobertEnglund's leather-and-chains-clad mercenary shows up out of nowhere, says "'ello, 'ello!", and giggles like a lunatic while trying to kill Fairlane. Although he's never given a name, Fairlane starts [[KnownOnlyByTheirNickname referring to him as "Smiley."]]
43* GroinAttack:
44** Zuzu Petals does this twice. First, with Ford: she gets down on her knees to beg for his help, and he assumes that she's doing something else. Insulted, she punches [[ICallHimMrHappy Stanley.]] Later, she socks Lieutenant Amos in the crotch, causing him to sing "Booty Time" soprano.
45** There's also a fake-out GroinAttack during the beginning of the movie, when Ford, accompanied by Josie and the Pussycats (no, not [[WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats them]]), almost performs a "Citizen's Castration" on Sam the Sleazebag.
46* ICallHimMisterHappy: Stanley. ''Like the power drill.''
47* ILoveTheDead: A variation happens when Ford has to hijack a hearse for a [[TheFunInFuneral car chase in a cemetery]]. The corpse, a large-chested woman, slides into the passenger's seat, forcing Ford to struggle with her limp body as it leans and flops against him. He notices her cleavage and comments "Damn, baby--I hope you filled out some organ donor cards!" [[spoiler:Of course, he's [[{{Squick}} visibly freaked out]] when the girl wakes up.]]
48* InSeriesNickname: Ford Fairlane is often called "Mr. Rock-n-Roll Detective" or something similar. He's not fond of it.
49* KavorkaMan: While he's not exactly ugly, Ford Fairlane is crass, rude, and incredibly sexist. Yet, the hot young women are all over him.
50* LargeHam: Andrew Dice Clay, throughout the entire movie. Gilbert Gottfried qualifies as well; if he didn't have such a small role, it might have led to outright HamToHamCombat.
51* LivingMacGuffin: Zuzu Petals.
52* MadeOfIron: Smiley is one tough son of a bitch. He survives easily lethal falls, Ford smashing a TV on his head, and more.
53* MouthyKid: One of the subplots involves a kid who emulates Ford. Even Ford can't believe some of the things that come out of his mouth. He hires Ford to find his father, a plotline that ends as a ShaggyDogStory.
54* NothingUpMySleeve: Ford keeps a nickeled S&W Model 38 up his sleeve in a spring-loaded gamblers' rig. With only a couple of exceptions, it frequently malfunctions.
55* PlotCoupon: The three computer disks that contain the incriminating evidence.
56* PoliceAreUseless: Lieutenant Amos is an absolutely clueless cop who shows up at crime scenes and acts as Ford's police competition. He doesn't even come close to solving the case, and Ford makes no effort to help him.
57* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Ford Fairlane is [[HeManWomanHater blatantly and shamelessly sexist]]. Many of his lines are lifted verbatim from Andrew Dice Clay's own stand-up comedy act, which is one of the primary reasons his career tanked so badly by the mid '90s.
58* ProBonoBarter: The reason Ford takes the cases of Johnny Crunch and Colleen Sutton in the first place, despite knowing that both are deceiving him, is because all of his clients bring him expensive (but tacky) gifts instead of money.
59* RadioContest: Provides an unexpected happy ending.
60* ShoutOut:
61** "Zuzu's petals" are a key plot point in ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''.
62** At one point, Johnny Crunch does the "She's my sister ''and'' my daughter" bit from ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''.
63** There's a moment where Ford and Zazu are at the top of a building and Ford shouts "Top of the world, Ma!", similar to Creator/JamesCagney in ''Film/WhiteHeat''.
64* SirSwearsALot: Ford barely lets a sentence go by without some profanity. A given considering who he's played by.
65* ThinkUnsexyThoughts: Early on the film, Ford imagines the nude image of Roseanne Barr is his head to cause a massive erection to subside, telling himself "Come on, down boy. Down Stanley. Roseanne Barr naked. Gone".
66* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: Bobby Black gave his [[PlotCoupon compact disk]] to Zuzu Petals before his death. Zuzu, of course, listened to it. She later says it's good, describing it as being very "avant-garde," and proceeds to imitate the "music." She is unaware that the CD is actually a ''computer'' disk.
67* TwinThreesomeFantasy: Ford is so cool, he makes this a reality within the first ten minutes of the movie.
68* VideoFullOfFilmClips: Billy Idol's video for his hit single "Cradle of Love" featured several clips from this movie.
69* VoiceClipSong: The film's theme song, Music/{{Yello}}'s "Unbelievable", chops and screws samples of Fairlane's dialogue.
70* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One of the punk gunslingers. [[spoiler: Julian Grendel, Smiley, and the other punk gunslinger are all killed off, but when last we see this punk gunslinger, he is fighting Sam the Sleazebag. Although Jazz and Sam are next shown entering the building, showing they must have defeated him somehow. Although after Grendel is defeated Smiley returns for revenge, but the punk gunslinger never does.]]

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