Posted by Neil at term4-216-231-033-104.speakeasy.net on July 06, 2001 at 00:20:33:
Partly to make make a face to the bastard who took it upon himself to outright LIE about what I said, but mostly to amuse myself.
FLETCH (along with FLETCH LIVES) is ultimately a movie that isn't definitive in the minds of the public. It may be more well know than the series of books, but if you really asked 1000 people, you'd get a lot of "I think I saw the last half of that on WTBS one night… who was that? A Saturday Night Live guy, I think. It was kind of funny.", "Chevy Chase, I think, but what was it about again? The guy who dressed in costumes? Oh, yeah. That was cute.", and "It was Chevy Chase, I think. Not sure, I didn't see it." Not to mention, "I have no idea.", "Never heard of it." and "Huh?"
Mind you, a random 999 people out of 1000 wouldn't be able to identify that Tom Hanks if you said "Forrest Gump" and that was enormously more successful - yes, in terms of butts in seats - than FLETCH and Tom Hanks is considerably more famous and popular now than Chevy Chase is... and probably than he ever was.
I don't mean that as a diss of the movie or its success. Just a reality check.
However this isn't like Lucas deciding to cast a new Han Solo (he, of course, already actually did cast a younger Indiana Jones) or something like that which has really captured the public imagination. Ultimately, it's just Fletch and even to the extent that a portion of the population takes any note of a change, not much more than half of that group will care and probably not even half of THAT group will care very much.
The Cocksucking Liar (aka jbleedin) said, "This shit is amazing. I post my opinion and catch hell for it."
That happens, for better or worse.
I suspect you'd get that, to one extent or another, in a lot of forums if you come in stating that Chevy Chase is, in fact, a 'great actor' instead of, say, an 'incredibly talented comic performer' or other more plausible superlative.
Even his couple of short forays into dramatic work, don't show the kind of range or development to deserve a superlative like 'great actor' and it's an insult to the people who have the talent, put in the work and passion into their being genuine great actors to call every talented comic performer who can act adequately a 'great actor'.
The Cocksucking Liar continued, 'I get responses like 'Chevy is a bitter old man,' 'he's a cry baby.'"
Chevy's bitterness and arrogance are well documented in forums other than this one. Perhaps you would do well to look into them.
The Cocksucking Liar then said, "People say he treated Smith with disrespect. Well, that's what Smith said. Is he God? Do we take EVERYTHING that Smith says for 100% true and accurate?"
No, but do we take EVERYTHING that Chase says for 100% true and accurate? No, again.
The best we can do is read for the most plausible version, which, in my mind is much closer to the Kevin Smith version than the Chevy Chase version. Apparently we disagree.
And the Cocksucking Liar also said, "I even had one dumbass tell me that Dogma is better than Caddyshack."
If said 'dumbass' is supposed to be me, I didn't actually state ANYTHING about my opinion of CADDYSHACK. If you think I did, you're lying about reading my post or about what I said merely in order to crassly manipulate the debate. Either way, you're a cocksucking liar.
The Cocksucking Liar yammered further, "Come on, now! I know you guys love Kevin, but give me a fucking break! I've never heard anything more asinine in my life."
Well, I did find that in a sampling of thousands of people (imdb.com) – as random as I could find, but I acknowledge hardly scientific – that ranked CADDYSHACK (along with every other Chevy Chase movie) below MALLRATS (along with every other Kevin Smith movie) without stating my opinion on the matter at all.
Do you know why?
I doubt it.
I was attempting to demonstrate that just because the public is FAMILIAR with something doesn't mean they're especially pleased with it. FLETCH, regardless of how classic you think it is, only received an average rating of 6.4, which hardly demonstrates that the public at large is thirsting for a return of the Man. As other people have stated, another 'Fletch' movie quite frankly WOULD NOT be happening without Kevin's initiative, Chevy or no.
And then the Cocksucking Liar said, "I don't care what any of you assholes say-Chevy is Fletch. I know Fletch Won is based on a young Fletch and I accept that. However, if Smith would have made a Fletch 3 like he was supposed to, Chevy would've been in it. He even said so himself. "
And that's make sense, although I agree with many here that Chevy is getting a bit long in the tooth for it, however if I was in charge of packaging a movie that took place AFTER the first two, I'd put Chevy in the role myself.
I think putting a younger, more currently successful actor and setting it prior to the first FLETCH makes the most economic sense for the movie itself and even more so in terms of a future franchise.
Then the Cocksucking Liar said, "So all you guys that think Smith is God, take that into consideration next time you feel like bad-mouthing Chevy."
No.
I'm not blindly sucking Kevin's dick. I've very publicly disagreed with Kevin on any number of issues.
Chevy Chase was once a very successful and talented man. I'm a big fan of his work in FOUL PLAY, VACATION, etc. I also like MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN quite a bit. I think it's a shame he wasn't able to pursue a career like that. He might have developed the dramatic chops to deserve the praise you're heaping on him. To movies like CADDYSHACK and THREE AMIGOS, I would hardly credit him with their artistic or commercial success. They were carried by performers like Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Bill Murray, Steve Martin and Martin Short to a much, much greater extent. In both, Chevy is practically just along for the ride.
Don't believe me, ask anyone - literally anyone - to tell you one funny thing from either movie. Something remarkably close to your 999/1000 statistic, assuming they've seen either movie, will tell you a moment involving someone other than Chevy Chase.
If you can counter this in a rational manner without simply restating you same tired arguments that are simply your opinion and speculation phrased as fact, then I'd be very interested in reading and continuing a debate.
I'd certainly be interested in hearing what he's done in the last ten years that he rose above mediocre material, like he did in SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES, MODERN PROBLEMS or EUROPEAN VACATION. I don't think he has. That's why I don't believe that he has the chops to cover a decent role anymore. That's sad. It's sad for people like me who have enjoyed much of his work over the years and terribly sad for slobbering, idiotic, cocksucking liars who continue to believe in the Cult of Chevy.
In the end, it doesn't matter. The demand isn't there in the public to see Chevy Chase movies, and nothing anyone has said - true or cocksucking lie - has demonstrated that a substantial amount of the people who associate Chevy with "Fletch" would care enough about him being replaced to be worth studio, Kevin or seven well-hung midgets giving a motherfuck about or that there even aren't even more people who can't associate the name "Fletch" with much of anything.