MovieChat Forums > Fletch (1985) Discussion > What I learned from watching Fletch.

What I learned from watching Fletch.

posted 15 years ago by dkgambler
21 replies | jump to latest

1. Junkies hanging out on beaches are not startled at all when a man in a suit comes out of nowhere and says "excuse me". They will just say "yeah" and politely begin a conversation.

2. Newspaper publishers will run full page advertisements steering their readers to upcoming stories, whether the stories are done or not. They will take a leap of faith that their reporter will finish the story by the publish date, and that the story will need absolutely no review, editing, etc..

3. Waiters at country clubs simply accept at face value the claims made by random people at the club, and will gladly place $2,000 lunch orders without verification.

4. When a conference is crashed by an unknown person, everyone at the convention will simply sit on ther hands and watch it all happen. No one will say "hey, who in the hell are you and what the hell are you doing?". Also, they will make no connection between the crasher and the several cops who have suddenly entered the room.

5. Everyone is clueless to ultra hip name dropping references. When someone identfies themself as Ted Nugent, Igor Stravinsky or G. Gordon Liddy, no one will grasp that the name belongs to a prominent historical figure.

6. Security is nonexistent; anyone posing as a doctor, airplane mechanic, SEC investigator, etc., is free to move about at will.

7. People hired to "look out for the place" will point a loaded gun at intruders and attempt to learn their intentions, and then say they will call the cops when the question is not answered satisfactorily. They will not call the cops first, as it is a common occurrence for people to simply walk into vacant houses and have a look around.

8. People can take one look at another person and determine that they have the same bone structure. Also, from a distance of 20 feet or so, a man can determine if another man is wearing his suit. No two suits are alike.

9. Dobermans can be trained to jump through glass windows, after which they won't have a scratch and are not bleeding. They can even be taught to open doors.

10. If you want to find out who will be sitting next to you on your next flight, simply walk up to the ticket counter and ask. They will even say who bought the ticket for the person sitting next to you.

[–] Emily-blink182 15 years ago

This is what I learned.

Chevy Chase is awesome in everything he does.. I actually knew that before, but whatever.

Waz up my nerd dizzles? - Howard Wolowitz

[–] r_cadell 15 years ago

11. Hanrahan is a pederast.

[–] zender8584 15 years ago

Not quite sure if the sarcasm is intentional, but I'll have to assume so. In that case, this is not a documentary, so a fictional comedy can introduce situations that are unrealistic in order to tell a story or get a laugh. That said...

1. Ever seen a junkie talk to a parking meter? I have. Don't see why they woulnd't talk to a man with some cash.

2. Happens still. People sign book deals, place ads for products in development.

3. If you look like you belong there, the help isn't going to question you. Personal experience.

4. Groupthink. Happens all the time. You've never crashed a party and everyone assumes someone else invited you?

5. Everyone isn't clueless. But, greasemonkeys that wrench on planes or some crooked real estate agent in Provo (well, pretty much anyone in Utah) are pretty oblivious.

6. See #3.

7. People with an IQ of 50 won't.

8. Bone structure, body weight, height... of course. Suit, that's a good catch. Most likely it's custom tailored given the character's wealth, and would not fit someone else quite as well.

9. True, dog should have been somewhat more *beep* up. But, then PETA would get upset.

10. In the 80s, with a smile and some cash you could pull this sort of *beep* off. Post-9/11 I agree, not going to happen.

[–] dkgambler 15 years ago

LOL, I don't know what's funnier, that fact that you couldn't grasp the obvious sarcasm, or that you actually tried to refute the items. Probably the latter, I guess. Anyway, my suggestion is that you lighten up. It's a pretty common occurrence on these boards to have "what I learned" threads. A fun way to point out the liberties taken in movies. But since you made insane defenses of some things, I simply must retort a few:

1. You made my case with this one. A junkie would flip his lid perhaps, he certainly wouldn't just say hi, hop into the car and carry on a remarkably lucid and hip conversation with a millionaire.

2. Not with newspaper stories. Fletch's editor was stressing out because he committed to a date and the story wasn't done.

3. Tell me the country club(s) you hang out at. I want to go have some nice lunches at someone else's expense. Won't happen.

4. I've been to dozens of seminars, etc. and I assure you the people attending same and the moderator wouldn't wait five seconds before dealing with the interloper. Groupthink my ass.

5. Yeah everybody hiding their identity goes with recongnizable public figures. Easier that way.

6. See #3. Tell me the secured areas you can roam about at will.

10. Hogwash. Didn't happen.

[–] flern 14 years ago

I don't know what's funnier... the bizarre logic that led you to post your initial list, or your wacky defense of it.

Next I'll bet that you are going to tell us that the two undercover cops sitting on the front of their car at the beach while wearing wetsuits and holding their surfboards would have never made the mistake of also wearing black socks and dress leather shoes as part of their undercover disguise.

To paraphrase something that Al Michaels once said to Peter Jennings on the air during a news broadcast when Peter was unable to determine what was or wasn't real (or supposed to be real)... "Lest anyone think that what happened in this movie was real, it was a totally farcical situation." That's kind of an obscure way of saying that you might want to look up the word "farce". http://www.yourdictionary.com/farce

[–] jamesrav 14 years ago

far too many examples of #6 - who would think that intelligent people and prestigious philanthropies would give hundreds of millions of dollars to Bernie Madoff without apparently doing any investigation. Your #6 is what makes the movie a gem, the well known psychological trait that you don't question (apparent) authority. Plenty of planes have crashed due to the co-pilot not wanting to usurp the judgment of the pilot.

[–] asgard-5 14 years ago

Guys please, say what you learned, don't argue.

my friends enjoy rides
charade social improves the quality of life
charade social is good for you

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] blackfunkster 14 years ago

Time to get this back on track.

Things I learned from watching Fletch:

-Fletch does not want his wages Garnisheed.

-Harold Faltemeyer's score makes it seem as if we're watching a cop thriller.

-If Fletch doesn't work for you yet, don't talk to him like that.

-If you've just found out that your long-time husband is a cheater and a crook, and the relative domestic peace you've lived under for years suddenly implodes... just run off to Brazil with a strange man with a receding hairline who showed up in your country club cottage only a few days ago. Mourning's for suckers.

-After seeing his daughter get married, and after failing to make a deal with Virgil Solozzo, Don Corleone inspects mattresses now.

-After succesfully infiltrating a hospital posing as a surgeon, its always a good idea to draw undue attention to yourself by blowing up a paper bag and popping it (not that asking for the head of Alfredo Garcia was subtle in itself)

-Not only are L.A.'s finest unable to apprehend a suspect in a stolen vehicle, they are also unable to corner said suspect in a crowded room. It also never occurs to them to turn the lights on in the room, and announce that they are here to detain the crazy microphone hijacker at the front.

[–] nutsberryfarm 13 years ago

bone cancer is the worst kind of cancer you can get.

We're not soldiers and he's not the enemy. He's a pizza man.

[–] scomer-1 13 years ago

Hitting someone with a moderate amount of force in the back with a Tennis racquet will knock them out cold.

If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.

[–] honkeymofo 12 years ago

Chewing gum will filter out the pollutants!

[–] nutsberryfarm 12 years ago

it's all ball bearings nowadays.

His name...was Julio Iglesias!

[–] bossat2822 12 years ago

If Alan kills Fletch, he will lose some of his humanitarian awards

Gail has done the reverse stuff, that little vixen

[–] boogles 11 years ago

Knowing that your husband is a bigamist will make you jump into the sack with an undercover reporter who has had a crush on you for a while, and only told you he was an undercover reporter a few days ago.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] captmurdock 11 years ago

1. It's perfectly acceptable, when replying to a Hispanic person's greeting in their native language, to answer with "Pup n' Taco" or "Tierra del Fuego!"

2. It's not a good idea to break a police chief's picture of him with Tommy Lasorda.

3. Fletch's divorce lawyer was a bum; in fact, Fletch's ex-wife may have been sleeping with the guy. But that's history.

4. Divorce lawyers working for your ex-wife will accept cash, but won't give you a receipt.

5. If you're going to break into a realtor's office to photograph a deed to some worthless scrub land, don't use the camera flash.

6. Breaking the rear window of a cop car won't get you in trouble with the cops.

7. Cops going undercover at the beach dress like overage surfers and are completely obvious. Reporters who dress as roller-skating gurus, on the other hand...impenetrable disguise.

8. Drug-dealing executives planning to murder beach bums and obscond to South America really don't read Fletch's stuff that well.

[–] nutsberryfarm 10 years ago

always put your food & drink on some old bald white guy's tab at the club.

🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

[–] Fletcherj119 9 years ago

While posing as an airplane mechanic, don't look for the engine in the luggage compartment.

[–] mamie-lou 9 years ago

It may not be against the law to steal a car. The laws have changed so much.

[–] Fletcherj119 9 years ago

If you notice an OldsmoBuick outside your place, it's overdue bill time.