Chevy Chase Shines in Fletch

Chevy Chase, one of the many "Not Ready for Primetime" players who went to the big screen, is in a new movie called "Fletch." This movie plays to his strength of improvising. He must play a dozen different characters and each is more hilarious than the last. Chase plays "Fletch," the title role, a reporter for a Los Angeles newspaper. He writes under the byline Jane Doe in order to protect his identity. Fletch writes investigative pieces about the seamier side of life in LA. He's currently investigating the drug trade at the beach and goes undercover as a bum. While hanging out at the beach, a well-dressed and clearly wealthy man named Alan Stanwyck approaches Fletch and makes him a proposal. Stanwyck claims to be a dying man and wants Fletch to shoot him so his wife can receive the insurance money. He will pay Fletch $50,000 to do the job and disappear. He's intrigued and agrees to do it. Naturally his investigative instinct takes over and he checks out Stanwyck's story. We realize there is more to the story than meets the eye. During the course of the investigation, Fletch gets into situations and talks his way out of trouble. This is classic Chevy Chase. He plays Dr. Rosenpenis, an LA Laker, Harry S. Truman, and Igor Stravinski among others. His harried boss is close to the brink of a nervous breakdown as Fletch's antics cause him trouble. But in the end, Fletch delivers a hell of a story about Stanwyck, a corrupt cop and the drug trade. Chase is at his best getting into and out of trouble in his usual "charming" manner. The plot is intricate enough to make it interesting and believable. You find yourself rooting for Fletch to uncover the truth and expose the bad guys. "Fletch" is well worth seeing. I hope Chase can find more roles like these.

Watching Movies on an Airplane

Not every movie is best seen while flying. This is a conclusion I drew after several twelve hour flights that I had to take recently. While it is much better to try and sleep on planes, who can resist watching a few movies? Especially on the newer planes that have individual seat screens where each passenger can choose what movie to watch and when to watch it. This is a huge advance from the one showing -- you snooze, you lose -- traditional view of in-flight entertainment. Yet even the new system is not perfect.
The screens are small so full blown action features just don't work. Take my advice, if one of the options is a violent, military or law and order flick, wait until you can see it in a movie theater. You will just lose most of the effects that major action films spend millions of dollars on these days.
The other problem is with the sound. Airplane headphones are just awful and key dialogue is often missed. I have no idea why the airline entertainment gurus don't give passengers the option to view movies with subtitles. I mean, every DVD these days has such an option. It would make viewing much better. As it is, steer clear of movies with complicated plot and lots of dialogue.
I would say that without violent pictures or those with interesting plots, you might be left with romance movies. Yet the problem is that to be shown on an airplane, all the interesting bits of romance movies have been censored out. What results is just plain (no pun intended) boring. Skip the romance flicks.
I guess that leaves comedy movies, but try not to laugh out loud. Nothing will disturb fellow travelers more that a guy laughing loudly in the next seat. Plus, most comedy movies these days are just not funny. I can't remember the last time I saw a "laugh out loud" movie. Where are Chevy Chase and Steve Martin these days?
On second thought, skip all the movies. Get your sleep and hit the cinema after you land!

Beverly Hills Cop Packs a Punch

"Beverly Hills Cop" is a great cop buddy movie, but it's really Eddie Murphy's film. He dominates every scene with his wise-ass comments, defying authority, and pushing the edge of the envelope. He's a Detroit cop who lands in Beverly HIills where he's a fish out of water. Being out of his element makes for some very funny moments. Murphy's previous movie "Trading Places" showcased his comedic talents but "Beverly Hills Cop" raises him to leading star status. The movie starts with Murphy as Detective Axel Foley getting a visit from his childhood friend, Mikey, who landed a job in California working for an art dealer through another childhood friend, Jenny. He ends up shot because Mikey took some bearer bonds from his employer. Foley takes vacation time to find his friend's killer, which takes him to tony Beverly Hills, a far cry from the streets of Detroit. Foley reconnects with Jenny who takes him to Victor Maitland, Mikey's former boss. He's thrown out and ends up catching the attention of Sergeant Taggart and Detective Rosewood. Their boss assigns them to watch Foley while he's in Beverly Hills on "vacation" to keep him out of trouble. The three cops end up teaming together to take down the evil Maitland, who's dealing drugs and illegal bearer bonds. I don't want to reveal every comic scene between the straight-laced, by-the-book Beverly Hills cops and the rough and tumble Detroit cop, but the chemistry is great. Foley cannot believe the grandeur of the BH Police Department, as well as the "I'm better than you" attitude of the population of this famous zip code. In the beginning, Foley questioned Taggart and Rosewood's ability to follow one's instincts and disregard regulations for the sake of catching a killer. By the end, the cops are allies and friends. "Beverly Hills Cop" has great action scenes and, of course, plenty of humor. It's worth the price of the ticket.