History Film / Fletch

--> '''Gail''' ''Whoops''? What do you mean, 'whoops'?! Don't say 'whoops'!

Probably Chevy Chase's most well-known role after [[NationalLampoonsVacation Clark Griswold]], and something of a cult hit. A 1989 sequel, ''Fletch Lives'', takes Fletch to The DeepSouth where he investigates intrigue around his family estate.

*** [[TheGodfather Don Corleone]]

--> '''[[spoiler:Stanwyk]]:''' I was already gonna commit one murder, ''assface'', what makes think I won't commit two?
--> '''Fletch''': ...Whoops.

Has nothing to do with the British series ''{{Porridge}}'', the main character of which is also referred to as 'Fletch'.

* JerkAss: Ted Underhill, a snobby rich jerk who doesn't tip the waiter. It's this that makes Fletch [[LaserGuidedKarma use his credit card as his own personal expense account.]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Inverted. In the novels, Fletch was a handsome, young, blond, extremely muscular man who could bed any woman he wanted. In the movies, he was played by a forty-something Chevy Chase who, while not exactly unhandsome, doesn't meet the other criteria that closely.

Probably Chevy Chase's most well-known role after [[NationalLampoonsVacation Clark Griswold]], and something of a cult hit. Resulted in a sequel, ''Fletch Lives'', which took Fletch to The DeepSouth where he investigated intrigue around his family estate.

[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MPW-34048_8596.jpeg]]

-> ''If you shoot me... you're liable to lose a lot of those humanitarian awards.''

** The doctor remarks as his having the same name as "[[{{Babar}} a childrens elephant]]."

Irwin M. Fletcher (Chevy Chase), better known as 'Fletch', writes a column for a Los Angeles newspaper under the byline 'Jane Doe'. He's working undercover at a local beach where a lot of hard drug-trafficking is taking place when he is suddenly cornered by Alan Stanwyck (Tim Matheson) who, assuming him to be one of the many junkies floating around the beach, makes him a strange offer. Claiming he has incurable cancer, Stanwyck asks Fletch to murder him a week from that date in order to both avoid his suffering and to provide for his family by allowing them to claim life insurance. Intrigued, Fletch begins to investigate Stanwyck's claims, discovering that things may be tied in with the story he is investigating at the beach, and that a sinister police chief (Joe Don Baker) may also be involved...

* AmericanGothicCouple: Stanwyck's parents, in essence if not in image.

** The Stanwycks remark at his being named after President UsefulNotes/HarryTruman.

* DirtyCop: [[spoiler: Chief of Police Karlin is behind the drug running on the beach, along with Stanwyck. Most of the other cops who appear are pretty corrupt as well.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: Alan Stanwyck. He is unfailingly polite when he first meets Fletch, but he obviously figures him to be a disposable lowlife.
* ForcedIntoEvil: Fat Sam and Gummy in the first movie. They are drug dealers, but it's made pretty clear that they're just low-level junkies being exploited and forced into dealing by people higher up the food chain. [[spoiler: Namely, Stanwyck and Chief Karlin.]]

* IronicEcho: A visual example. [[spoiler: In the first scene where Stanwyck approaches Fletch, Stanwyck is in a smart suit and Fletch in a scruffy Lakers shirt and jeans. In the last scene, they've essentially switched clothing -- Stanwyck because he's actually planning on killing Fletch, Fletch because he's long since figured out that this is what Stanwyck's planning on doing. And because it's actually Stanwyck's suit, which Fletch acquired prior to sleeping with Stanwyck's wife.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Stanwyck is planning to shoot Fletch, having lured him there with the whole "I'm dying and want you to kill me for the insurance" thing. He ends up getting shot and killed by the Chief, who he was double-crossing.]]

* NoHonorAmongThieves: How the villains are undone at the end. [[spoiler: Turns out Stanwyck, learning on the grapevine that Fletch's story was on the verge of blowing the drug smuggling at the beach wide open, decided to fake his death and flee to Rio with his wife (well, one of them) and several hundred thousand dollars that the Chief of Police had staked him for the next shipment. The Chief, naturally, was not overly pleased.]]
* OhCrap: At the end [[spoiler: when Fletch realizes that performing TheSummation on Stanwyck's scheme won't actually stop Stanwyck from, well, going through with his scheme.]]
--> '''[[spoiler:Stanwyck]]:''' I was already gonna commit one murder, ''assface'', what makes think I won't commit two?

--> '''Fletch''': Whoops.

* UncleTomfoolery: Calculus Entropy

* SequelNonEntity: Larry, Fletch's GirlFriday at the newspaper in ''Fletch'', is nowhere to be found in the sequel. Likewise with Gail Stanwyk, a sufferer of the CartwrightCurse. The same can't be said for Mr. Underhill, although he was pretty much DemotedToExtra (after being not much more than an extra in the first film), only appearing in a DreamSequence (and then only in a panoramic CrowdSong, at that!).

* SequelNonEntity: Larry, Fletch's GirlFriday at the newspaper in ''Fletch'', is nowhere to be found in the sequel. Likewise with Gail Stanwyk, a sufferer of the CartwrightCurse. The same can't be said for Mr. Underhill, although he was pretty much DemotedToExtra (after being not much more than an extra in the first film), only appearing in a DreamSequence (and then only in a wide-angle CrowdSong, at that!).

* SequelNonEntity: Larry, Fletch's GirlFriday at the newspaper in ''Fletch'', is nowhere to be found in the sequel. Likewise with Gail Stanwyk, a sufferer of the CartwrightCurse. The same can't be said for Mr. Underhill, although he was pretty much DemotedToExtra (after being not much more than an extra in the first film), only appearing in a DreamSequence (

* AmoralAttorney: In both films, Fletch is bothered by his ex-wife's incredibly annoying alimony attorney Melvyn Gillette, who he despises almost as much as his ex-wife. (Supposedly, Melvin was able to get a rather unfair settlement in his wife's favor. [[spoiler:Fletch gets even with him at the end of the second film, however, when he shows up offering to forego all future alimony payments (and never show his face there again) in exchange for the Belle Isle property, which he believes to be valuable. Fletch, barely able to contain his joy, happily signs over the land, which unbeknownst to Melvin, is worthless and covered with toxic waste due to the events of the movie.]]

Has nothing to do with the British series ''{{Porridge}}'', the main character of which also being referred to as 'Fletch'.

Irwin M. Fletcher (Chevy Chase), better known as 'Fletch', writes a column for a Los Angeles newspaper under the byline 'Jane Doe'. He's working undercover at a local beach where a lot of hard drug-trafficking is taking place when he is suddenly cornered by Alan Stanwyck (Tim Matheson) who, assuming him to be one of the many junkies floating around the beach, makes him a strange offer. Claiming he has incurable cancer, Stanwyck wants Fletch to murder him a week from that date in order to both avoid his suffering and to provide for his family by allowing them to claim life insurance, and offers Fletch a considerable sum of money to murder him a week from that date. Intrigued, Fletch begins to investigate Stanwyck's claims, discovering that things may be tied in with the story he is investigating at the beach, and that a sinister police chief (Joe Don Baker) may also be involved...