Drop Dead Fred

Drop Dead Fred is essentially a film version of grown-up Calvin and Hobbes - except the real kid is the good one, and the imaginary friend is naughty.

There are so many original, funny, creative scenes in the film that it is worth watching for those alone.

Having said that, I did find the film a little boring until Fred's introduction. After that, however, there isn't a boring moment to be seen.

Rik Mayall plays the part perfectly, Phoebe Cates is excellent and the costumes are superb too.

I would whole-heartedly recommend this film to anybody who still holds on to a bit of the child in them. I'm still clinging to mine and I hope I never lose grip.

I'm mystified at why some people consider this film "mediocre". Yes, Fred is an annoying ass, but the story requires him to be this way. I think those who "get" this film understand the complexities of the film's premise, retreat into fantasy isn't healthy but sometimes it's the only refuge a person has, Fred is as destructive as he is supportive but every annoying action requires the Phoebe Cates character to strengthen her own boundaries and sense of purpose.

Okay, I don't want to sound like Doctor Joyce Brothers, just find it ironic that what some people don't like about this film is what distinguishes it from the usual Hollywood bull***t, Fred isn't cute and cuddly, that would have been false, imagine Robin Williams as Fred...that film would be a complete waste of time.

I originally saw this in my late teens. A few years ago, it started getting good play on cable, and I rediscovered this treasure.

I won't rehash the plot (you can read that on the main page), but the premise has a real interesting idea. What surprised me most by the other comments were things about Elizabeth's emotional state? She's not nuts, and she's not delusional. Just because her mother mistakes Fred for a psychological problem doesn't mean she's right. That's the whole point. While we might have some questions in the beginning, by the end it's quite clear that Fred is real. This is a fantasy after all.

Elizabeth is such a sweet child, it's just such a shame her father never gets a backbone to stand up to her mother. That's the one thing I didn't like about the story. It would seem her father simply abandoned them, which you simply wouldn't believe based on the sweet caring man they depict him to be. I've always adored Marsha Mason, and it was hard to see her as such a cold manipulative woman. You can see underneath, at least at the end, that she has her own issues that cause her to treat her daughter as an adversary. But it's hard to forgive.

Ryk Mayall is hilarious! He's an absolute gem, and I really wish we would see him in more mainstream movies so I could view his talent without video hunting. He is brilliant in the physical comedy, and a riot even when his jokes aren't all that funny. He also shows some really tender moments. He reminds you a touch of a teacher who really loves a student with emotionally inept parents. He's supposed to be showing her what's wrong with her life, making her wake up to the shell of a person she's become, but you can see what he really wants to do is hold her, kiss the top of her head, and tell her it'll all be alright and that (at least) he loves her.

Phoebe Cates turns in one of her best performances (second only to Shag). She plays the vulnerable young woman, who's been cowed by her mother and squashed by her husband, with realism and depth. You can understand her attachment to her philandering spouse (cleverly portrayed by Tim Matheson) when you recognize that she just desperately wants to be loved by someone. But after being; abandoned by her father (and seemingly Fred), emotionally battered by her mother, and losing her only other real friend (Ron Eldard is really charming in this bit) as a child; who wouldn't cling to any shred of love they can get?

While this movie is so funny and energetic, it's at the end it really pays off for the grown ups. Elizabeth comes to terms with the fact that her husband really doesn't care, that she can live her life without the approval or permission of her mother, and that she'll never really be happy until she regains the inner child her mother stole from her. The fantasy scene where Fred helps her step back and face all this is really interesting, I particularly LOVE the metaphor of unwrapping the young Elizabeth from the bed where she's trapped by the same masking tape her mother used to lock Fred in the Jack-in-the-Box. The final moment of Fred's departure, with a warm kiss and hug, is heartbreaking but fitting. And closing the film with Fred continuing his efforts by befriending Mickey's daughter proves the whole point, that Fred is very real and that the imaginary friends in this story have a real purpose. They are there to help children in need in the only way kids really can be helped, with fun.

I am amazed by the amount of people who have discussed this movie in the terms of being about "mental illness".... it should become clear by the end of the movie that this is a fantasy, Fred is not an imaginary friend he is "real" he exists and his sole purpose in life is to help children in a dark place and bring them out of themselves. Imaginary friends do not move on to another child, imaginary friends are the property of those who imagine them. I wouldn't be at all surprised if I saw a review of "Gremlins" on here by the same people who said "nasty little creatures who create distruction around them are not funny". This is a funny movie, plain and simple. Rick Mayall is outstanding as Fred and Phoebe Cates gives the perfect performance as the downtrodden daughter and wife. Anyone who says bad things about this movie has obviously never seen a fantasy movie before and taken it for what it is. I am surprised that they didn't call Demi Moore delusional in "Ghost" because she was refusing to let go of her boyfriend and "imagined" all the stuff that went on. This is a fantasy folks, a pure unadulterated fantasy and it is a bloody funny one at that. Watch it, it will make you laugh, it will make you smile, and it will make you chuckle.... what more can you ask and again Rick Mayall is brilliant.

Drop Dead Fred is a difficult film to review. I saw it for the first time when I was 13 years old or something, and I absolutely loved it because I was right in the middle of the age group at which the film is directed. I watched it again recently, and while the film's slapstick comedy did not hold quite the same massive appeal (although I was still hugely entertained) as it did when I was younger, I regretted to discover that I had grown out of a lot of the goofy antics that went on in the movie.

However, I was reading through some of the reviews written on the IMDb by other users, and was amazed at how offended a couple of people were by this film, revealing in their reviews a total detachment from their own inner selves and a complete misunderstanding for the little people that we call kids. No, for example, I would NOT recommend a seven year old girl to psychiatric help for making a mess. This is arguably one of the most ludicrous ideas that I have ever read on the Internet Movie Database in my entire life, and believe me, I have read some jaw-droppingly moronic comments on this beloved site.

If you read through the user comments for this movie, you can so clearly see the difference in the people who liked it and the ones who hate it that it almost makes you laugh out loud that these people can't see that they are exactly the kinds of people that the movie rebels against. Drop Dead Fred begs Elizabeth not to let her mother turn her into one of them because he doesn't want her to turn into the kind of person who is so uptight and frigid and barren that she would be incapable of enjoying exactly the kind of entertainment and fun that Drop Dead Fred is.

This is a movie that was made for people who are still in touch with their inner child, people who realize that a little girl with a mother who has absolutely no understanding of the mind of a child has every right to escape into the world of an imaginary friend if it will help her escape the grayness and responsibility imposed on her by her mother, who demands absolute perfection and hasn't the first clue about how to raise a child. Very similar things can be said about various IMDb users, such as ones who refer to Fred as a product of a deranged mind or say anything about psychos or brutality or insanity.

Drop Dead Fred is not a film about an insane little girl. Indeed, I like to think that the world is populated mostly with people who understand that the minds of young children operate slightly differently than their parents'and our own, and that they can be forgiven for getting into a little mischief. I am generally against grouping together people who did not like a certain film, but in this case it seems overly obvious that the people who wrote negative reviews of this fun comedy are simply the people who resent being pointed out as the kinds of people that they are.

Drop Dead Fred is a movie that was made for fun, to be enjoyed, laughed at, and respected for reminding us that we need to lighten up occasionally and, while not necessarily flinging spaghetti in a nice restaurant, act like children every once in a while to prevent ourselves from being driven insane by the fast-paced society that we live in. And if you can't do that, if you hated Drop Dead Fred because you simply can't understand that concept, if, indeed, you think that Elizabeth is in dire need of psychiatric care, you may want to step back and look closely at your life and your views.

YOU may be the one in need of therapy.