Fletch

Year: 1985

Country: USA

Tagline: Meet the only guy who changes his identity more often than his underwear.  »

Plot: Los Angeles Times reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher (Chevy Chase) is writing an article exposing the drug traffic on the beaches of Los Angeles. Posing as a homeless addict during his investigation, he is approached by Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson) who mistakenly assumes Fletch is a junkie. Taking him to his luxury mansion in Beverly Hills, Stanwyk formally introduces himself and that he works for Boyd Aviation as the executive vice president Stanwyk claims to have bone cancer, with only months left to live, and wishes to avoid the pain and suffering. Stanwyk offers $50,000 for Fletch to come to his mansion in a few days time, kill him, and then escape to Rio de Janeiro, staging the murder to appear as the result of a burglary.Fletch is suspicious but ostensibly agrees to the plan. Along with his colleague Louisa Larry (Geena Davis), he begins investigating Stanwyk instead of completing his drug trafficking exposé, much to the dismay of his impatient boss and editor Frank Walker (Richard Libertini).Fletch endures a rectal exam from Stanwyk's doctor, Dr. Dolan (M. Emmett Walsh), in a failed attempt to talk Dolan into divulging medical information about Stanwyk. Later that same day, disguised as a doctor, Fletch accesses Stanwyk's file at the hospital and learns Stanwyk lied to him about having cancer.Fletch visits Stanwyk's wife Gail (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) at her tennis club and, pretending to be a friend of her husband's, flirts with her during an impromptu tennis lesson.Next, Fletch poses as an FCC agent where he visits Gail's father, Stanton Boyd, who is the head of Boyd Aviation to inquire about Stanwyk's finances. Fletch finds that Gail recently converted $3 million of her personal stock in Boyd Aviation into cash for her husband to buy a ranch in Provo, Utah.Fletch returns to his apartment for the day and finds that his ex-wife's lawyer Marvin Gillet (George Wyner) is waiting for him to collect unpaid alimony. Fletch gives Gillet the $1,000 cash bribe money that Stanwyk gave him earlier to make him leave. Fletch then goes to sleep and has a dream of being a major league basketball player playing for the Lakers and scoring a hoop.Fletch travels to Utah where he breaks into the realtor's office and discovers the deed lists the sale price as only $3,000. He barely escapes from the office while being chased by a guard dog.Meanwhile, LAPD Chief Jerry Karlin (Joe Don Baker) gets wind of Fletch's soon-to-be-published drug article and meets with him following his return to California, saying the article will jeopardize his undercover operation on the beach. Chief Karlin threatens to kill Fletch unless he agrees to drop the investigation. Fletch refuses to do so, and as a result, Karlin puts out a phony APB on Fletch for drug dealing, thus making Fletch a fugitive.Disguised as a redneck airplane mechanic, Fletch investigates the private jet owned by Stanwyk and learns from two of the other mechanics that Stanwyk has been using the plane to travel back and forth between California and Brazil on a weekly basis for several months now.Back at the tennis club, Fletch overhears a rude club member, Mr. Underhill (William Traynor), insulting a waiter and decides to use Underhill's tab to treat Gail to an expensive lunch in her private cabana. Fletch informs Gail of the details to her husband's murder scheme and the fraudulent ranch deal.Next, Fletch spys on Stanwyk making a suspicious briefcase exchange with Chief Karlin, but is unable to determine the nature of their relationship. He returns home to find LAPD officers lying in wait at his apartment and flees and manages to avoid being caught after a harrowing car chase when Fletch steals a sportscar from an unknowing guy and flees.Fletch returns to Provo to hide out and, under the guise of an insurance investigator, interviews Stanwyk's parents. Fletch discovers Stanwyk has been secretly married to another woman for eight years, having used Gail for her money.At the climax, Fletch arrives at Stanwyk's mansion on the night of the plotted murder only to find Stanwyk armed and ready to kill him instead. Fletch reveals he is aware Stanwyk's real plan was to fake his own death by killing Fletch and burning his body beyond recognition. Stanwyk would then escape to Brazil with his other wife as well as Gail's $3 million. Stanwyk was also using his private jet to smuggle cocaine from South America to supply Chief Karlin who in turn profited by blackmailing ex-convicts like Fat Sam (George Wendt) to peddle drugs on the beaches. Chief Karlin unexpectedly shows up and, upon learning of Stanwyk's intentions to flee with $800,000 of the Chief's drug money, kills Stanwyk. Chief Karlin then turns the gun on Fletch but is knocked unconscious by Gail.Some time later, Chief Karlin is indicted due to Fletch's investigation. Fletch begins dating Gail and in the final scene, takes her on a vacation to Rio, Brazil.Fletcher is a newspaper reporter who is searching information about drug trafficking in Los Angeles. He was promised to have a lot of money to kill a cancerous millionaire.

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