66 - "Fletch" (1985)

     I didn't see Fletch for the first time until the mid-90's. I had always been a huge fan of Chevy Chase but there was just something about that movie that didn't seem appealing to me. Fortunately, I gave it a chance one day and it has become a film like the previous movie on my list, Father of the Bride, where it is on quite a bit and I always have to watch it. Fletch is a comedic masterpiece and Chevy Chase is top form as newspaper reporter who uses many aliases and disguises to get the scoops he needs. Early in the film he is approached by a stranger, Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson), who offers a monetary award if Fletch will shoot him. Stanwyk tells Fletch that he is dying of cancer and suicide will cancel any insurance policies he has, but murder will not. Fletch agrees to do it but he smells a rat from the get go and starts investigating Stanwyk. What he finds is that everything, and everyone, is not as they always seem and it leads to an even bigger story revolving around drugs. The movie may sound like more of a mystery, and it is, a good one at that, but along the way the movie provides plenty of laughs that only Chevy Chase can pull off. Fletch also features Joe Don Baker and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson in good supporting roles. Also look for Geena Davis in a small part which is one of her earliest movie roles.