The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Ford "Mr. Rock n' Roll Detective" Fairlane is experiencing problems, and it's not with the opposite sex.All his clients pay him with drum sticks, koala bears, food processors and bicycle shorts, but not money. Another one of them is that all his employers that want him to find a girl named Zuzu Petals, are killed soon after speaking with Ford....Ever since hearing about this film twenty three years ago, I knew what to expect, and I always knew I'd enjoy it for its absurdity. But here in the UK, it vanished when it bombed in the US.It's never been on TV, and I trawled for years to get the DVD, and after finally seeing it, I got exactly what I expected from Renny Harlingen, and the biggest producer of the era, Joel Silver.Its loud, flashy, full of sporadic characters and big bangs, and even bigger hair, and then there's the star.He's the heart and soul of the film, and you really have to take to him, because he just tiptoes on that thin line between endearing or risible. Luckily for me, and the rest of the world, the trailer emphasises this so much, that it's not really a trailer, rather more of a warm up.Plot wise, it's your standard gumshoe fare, missing girl, suspect characters, and special guest stars as the villains. But the supporting characters are just so brilliant, they elevate an average story into something a little bonkers.Jokes are old, predictable, but still funny, and its your typical late eighties, early nineties actioner, big dumb, but lots of fun.Would make a great double bill with Hudson Hawk.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people, who fancy themselves critics, meander off into the political and try to use theatrical jargon to disguise what it is they really dislike about a movie. If you go to a movie which is a vehicle for Andrew Dice Clay who in my estimation is one of the greatest comic minds in history, (and he has the records to prove it, being the only comedian to sell out Madison Square Gardens 2 nights consecutively) how can his brand of humor be used as legitimate criticism in a movie which promotes his brand of comedy to the hilt? It's moronic, if you don't like his shtick, you won't like the movie..end of story. Why did you go see it? and why do you write sprawling reviews ...when you could sum it up in a sentence. I hate Dice's humor so naturally I hated this movie. That much said this movie was "The goods" and would have been one of the top 20 box office earners of 1990 had 20th century fox not caved to political pressure and yanked it after only 3 weeks. 12 million opening week? flop me thinks not. The cinemephotography is some of the best work since michael chapman's work in the Lost Boys. The cast are all wonderful in their cartoon roles, With Dice in the lead and Wayne Newton as the villain steeling the show. The movie is hilarious. But to prove that I am not completely biased as a dice fan, there where some minor elelments that bugged me. The editing towards the middle of the movie seemed to get sloppy, especially during the scenens in which biker hit men descend upon the sorority house. And there is a scene in which ford fairlane is being inducted as an honorary member, this is silly and does not jel with his macho stick. Also Morris Dey in a supporting role, gave a dreadful performance, which is sad because he can act, as anyone who has seen Purple Rain knows. Aside from these minor annoyances, the adventures of ford fairlane delivers all it promised, and should have become a franchise film, had 20th century fox maintained more artistic integrity in the face of controversy, not to mention business savvy as it was still making money when they pulled it despite al the undserved negative publicity. One of the best comedies of the 90s.

From the moment you see the Silvers Production logo in that retro 50s Cadilliac font you're reminded of everything that is kitsch about early 90s cinema. Andrew Dice Clay narrates as Ford Fairlan, rock and roll detective, as we're introduced to a dying breed of hair metal band that would appear in heavy rotation on Howard Stern who will be the murder victim in this common 90s neo-noir full of mid-30s greaser baby boomers, Gen X hookers, Hawaiian shirts, beaches, palm trees, muscle cars, venetian blinds, ceiling fans, smoking and Lauren Holly. Mind you all this predates Pulp Fiction, Swingers, Dennis Leary and Private Parts - perhaps Renny Harlin was ahead of his time? Funnily enough, Gilbert Gottfried plays a sleazy Howard Stern caricature who asks Fairlane to find his daughter before dying in a very entertaining way causing Fairlane to hunt down Gottfried's killer, rather than congratulate him or her, and find the girl. Priscilla Pressley, impersonating Barbara Stanwyck and the mother of the missing girl, also asks for Fairlane's help. Standing in the rock and roll detective's way is Ed O'Neil, who plays a disgruntled detective accompanied with his own Yello soundtrack (who worked on the score) along with Wayne Newton who is convincing as an evil Walt Disney look-a-like record producer. Freddy Kruger is also in the film contributing to an over- complicated convoluted screenplay, episodic story structure and Yello's embarrassing early 90s swing revival attempt at rock music. The film is mostly about its style and to its credit, a lot of other films that would follow did share aesthetic elements that appear in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane even though everything else about it is ----. Also, there's a Koala.

This is billed as a comedy. However, it cannot evoke one single smile or laugh.Ford is some kind of investigator. He seems to be a parody of tough guys like Humphrey Bogart, and of lady's men like James Bond. However, this fails to produce. The writing just isn't there. In fact, it looks like there wasn't even a script to this piece of whatever it is. It looks like a bunch of rich kids on crack got together with a video camera and thought they were being funny.they failed miserably.Nothing of interest in the whole movie. I already mentioned there isn't one single funny scene. Not even one funny joke. This bunch of motley scenes just lumps together aimlessly. There appears to be no director, no writer, no film editor. To make matters worse, no one is even entertaining or interesting. It is too bad, but Andrew Clay is just a terrible bore.Hard to imagine anyone giving this film a good rating. It doesn't make sense. This is a film that people on drugs, who are beyond being bored, show you in order to play a prank on you. By all means, one of the worst movies ever made.