User reviews

First of all, what a great movie. None stop laughs from one of the very few comedians who can sell out Madison Square Garden. Not only was Dice's performance "Unbelievable" the supporting cast held a lot of big named actors. Wayne Newton, Priscilla Presley, Lauren Holly, and the guy who played Freddy Kruger....yeah, what's his name? Anyway, this got a terrible review from the powers to be because it was considered Dice comedy. Still, you can't watch Ford Fairlane without laughing a few times.

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane looks pretty much at the Diceman at his stand-up comedy best. But, this time, he has a character and is a rock and roll detective. As usual he is the offensive Dice. Off-color, crude, and for me (a rabid Dice fan) utterly dead pan funny. But though I find Andrew Dice Clay to be a good actor, many people might see this movie and think that he is just using this film as an excuse for people to see his stand-up act. Well, like the film, the opinions are two sided. You either love the Diceman's comedy, or utterly hate it. I'm going for the upper. Great comedy and entertainment in this block-buster that rocketed Dice.

The title of my post says it all for the ratings this movie received. I mean less than a 5?? This movie is in the cult classic section in every video store I go to! Sure this movie was harsh and witty while poking fun at the music industry of the late 80s/early 90s. And for those of you familiar with the late 80s/early 90s music scene, you'll remember how chaotic it was back then! This movie is a testament to all the decadent happenings during that time. Although filled with campy one-liners, an all-star cast, and extremely vulgar material, it's a Dice movie after all! That's how it's supposed to be! Granted this movie is not for everyone, it's still fun to just sit there and laugh along with the movie's gags. Offensive maybe, cheesy maybe. Get over it ya wimp!

Was this going to win Best Picture? Hell no.

But "Adventures of Ford Fairlane" is the movie you watch when you're about to go to sleep because you have a big meeting in the morning and then you see the opening credits on HBO at 11:30pm and you just have to watch it.

Movies like this, as self-serving and gross as they are, actually are more important today more than they were when they came out in the 80s and 90s. They are a reminder of a time when we could laugh at something that was gross and disgusting without having to worry about protests from leftist screaming about micro aggressions. No one names their penis "Stanley" anymore. No one is banned from MTV. No one says nursery rhymes with the word pu$$y in them.

No one knew it at the time, but AFF is an important snapshot of a better time in pop culture.

This film is the perfect comedy/action film of its era! This film is absolutely perfect in every way! Andrew dice Clay is perfect in the part. The writing is excellent. The acting is good. The comic timing is impeccable. Everything works! The music is fantastic. Lauren holly is gorgeous! Clay is in his prime, and at his peak. Everything about this film is perfect! Wayne Newton as the bad guy, is great. Ed O'Neal is great. People want to hate on Clay, but he was the most popular comedian at the time! He literally was a rock star of comedy! I highly recommend this movie! It is like the perfect snapshot of the late 80's/early 90's.

I like Renny Harlin. I have yet to see a movie from him that I hate and that includes the ill-received Cutthroat Island (before pirates were trendy again). So I watched this movie with mixed feelings. You see, I hate Andrew Dice Clay. The man sums up everything I dislike about dumb American comedy. I have nothing against American comedy, some of the better acts (Bill Hicks, Steven Wright, Steve Martin, Mitch Hedberg, Rchard Pryor, etc, etc) deserve to be right up there with the best of the bunch. But, sadly, many of the more popular acts seem to rely on a mixture of unsubtle punchlines recognised by the audience because they are LOUD or stale material mixed with flag-waving patriotism. Clay falls into the former group.

He's unfunny, he's brash and he's a complete dick. BUT that's fitting for the character he plays. Sadly, it doesn't make him any more enjoyable. It just means that I have to try to enjoy a Renny Harlin action comedy with one of the worst lead characters I've ever seen.

The sad thing is that the rest of the cast is a veritable goldmine. Gilbert Gottfried, Wayne Newton, Lauren Holly, Priscilla Presley, Vince Neill and Ed O'Neill all appear and all do well in their supporting roles. The movie is also helped by a script that is chock full of gems. Some of these lines are even delivered by Clay, which weakens their comedy kudos, but most of them just appear and make you chuckle instantly.

The plot hanging over everything is flimsy, nothing is too subtle and Clay is the biggest downside of the matter but Harlin walks the line between reality and cartoon incredulity far better than, for example, Sam Raimi in Crimewave. It's big, dumb fun and those who like Clay will derive a lot more pleasure from it than I did.

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) was a starring vehicle for Andrew "Dice" Clay. It was made to capitalize on his short mainstream career. After this film he made a concert movie that was shot in M.S.G. He's the only comic to ever sell out that arena. The movie follows Clay as he tries to solve a perplexing case, it has more twists than a pretzel. but not as interesting or satisfying. Can the Dice Man finish the case and get the girl or will he fall victim to the evil bad guy? Are you brave enough to watch Andrew "Dice" Clay try and carry as film? If you are then go out and watch "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane".

The director even shot the movie in widescreen, giving it the classy treatment. A cast filled with b-movie actors and t.v. stars ( Ed O'Neil, Robert Englund, Priscella Presely, Wayne Newton) and a few music stars as well. They do their best to try and living up the film but it's all old hat and tiresome. The movie is nothing more than a novelty act for the Dice Man.

For die hard Andrew "Dice" Clay fans. Others will either be bored or wont see what's all the hub bub.

This movie always cracks me up. I should note that I'm SO not a fan of Andrew "Dice" Clay, I think his stand-up shows suck, big time. But here, he's simply fantastic as Ford Fairlane, the Rock'n Roll Detective, who mostly gets paid in the form of gifts or memorabilia.

Dice's jokes here work perfectly each time, one quotable line after another ("so many assholes, so few bullets", "you're a poet and didn't know it", "talking with Zuzu is like ************ with a cheese-grinder, slightly enjoyable but mostly painful" to name a few). The film never takes itself seriously, yet somehow keeps it from ever going into slapstick territory.

Supporting actors do well also, Presly is always a stunner, Wayne Newton gives his best ever performance as Fairlane's nemesis and Ed O'Neill is a riot as a former disco singer turned detective. Robert Englund gives a rather amusing performance as a very inept crook who's ultimate fate is nothing short of hilarious.

Finnish director Harlin directs with a sure hand, everything in the technical department in tip top shape and it's very visually stylish at times. The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is definitely not for everyone, but it's not only for die hard Clay fans, since I sure as hell ain't one of them. But I think he's perfect here and the film is very funny and comes highly recommended by me.

When I saw this movie for the first time, I was just getting into Dice's comedy, so I guess my point of view was more biased. Plus, I was much younger and found it entertaining enough to watch a movie with a good deal of profanity and sex jokes. Naturally, I was also less critical of movies back then. I still like Dice's humor, and don't participate in the bandwagon of people who think he's the Antichrist. Reason why? I don't believe he really is the sexist pig he portrays himself as on stage, and his whole intention is to poke fun at the stereotypical Italian-American from Brooklyn who thinks he's hot stuff and believes he can treat any woman like a piece of meat. It's a cliche when someone says a celebrity is nice and sweet in real life, as opposed to the character he plays on the big or small screen, but with Dice I believe it's true. I mean, he's a married man with two children, and isn't even Italian--he's Jewish! I could understand why people would be offended by his material, but I feel I have more of an understanding of who he really is and as a result, don't take his profane and misogynistic comments seriously.

With all that said, I was disappointed watching this movie for the first time in about 5 years. First of all, I'm a firm believer that when a comedian stars in a movie, his job is to be a good actor first and then be funny. In Dice's case, he's a good comedian, but he definitely possesses very little acting talent. His trademark gestures and expressions that are amusing to watch on stage became annoying to watch on screen. I wasn't able to buy him as the character he was portraying. All I saw was Dice for 95 minutes! Not Ford Fairlane. So when I criticize comedians-turned-actors like Mike Epps, I'm not just being prejudice against them because I don't find them funny, but because they're simply not good actors--and when they're not funny, it makes matters worse.

I was still able to get a few chuckles here and there, and during the first 20-minutes-or-so, I found myself imitating Dice's expressions. But after a while, the welcome was worn out. There are other actors in the cast who possess more talent, like Ed O'Neill and Robert Englund. Even Wayne Newton showed that he can be a fairly natural actor. Unfortunately, their roles are small and moderately thankless (even though I liked Gilbert Gottfried's cameo), and to be totally honest this isn't much more than a star vehicle for Dice. Judging by the poor box office, I guess it was proven that he's better on stage than screen. I enjoyed him in certain supporting roles like the one he played in "One Night in McCool's," but he certainly isn't star material.

It also kind of bothered me that all the women in the film were portrayed as either ditzes, villains or sex objects. Plus, the film gets plot-heavy at times, which doesn't help since the plot isn't all that interesting. However, if you decide to buy or rent the DVD, it contains a good commentary by director Renny Harlin.

My score: 5 (out of 10)

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.

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) is a mystery action comedy movie directed by Renny Harlin and it was great. To be fair, I had to watch it twice because I hated the first time around and I ended up liking it the second time.

Positives for The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990): The movie's premise is very interesting and there is a lot of fun to be had. Andrew Dice Clay as Ford Fairlane is a such a cool character and he is the charisma to make this character work. The movie has a great supporting cast with Wayne Newton, Priscilla Presley, Lauren Holly, Brandon Call, Maddie Corman, David Patrick Kelly, Morris Day, Robert Englund, Ed O'Neill and Gilbert Gottfried. The movie has an amazing soundtrack and all of the songs are awesome. And finally, the action sequences are awesome with all of the explosion, gunfire and fists being thrown at you and it is very over the top and cheesy.

Negatives for The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990): Because this is a Renny Harlin movie, he tends to throw a lot of things at the wall and let's just say that not everything sticks. This movie is more interested in being cool and entertaining than it is with being a good movie. The characters aren't that well developed or have any personality with the exception of Andrew Dice Clay. And finally, Gilbert Gottfried's character was very annoying and that's probably because of his voice to where almost every character he has ever played is basically Iago from Aladdin (1992) and that movie wouldn't be released for two more years.

Overall, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) is a dumb fun cheesy 90's action movie with everything that we love about the genre minus the story.

Is it any wonder Clay isn't in more movies?

Who could stand him for 90 minutes or so? Not too many, judging from how well "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" did in theatres. Clay's routine transplanted to a detective "comedy" shows pretty much what made Clay what he is today; it's crude, anti-woman, sexist and extremely lunk-headed.

Just like Clay.

I'm not a fan of the Dice-Man, but even fans will notice that he's pretty diluted from his usual profane self. How else could he be considered a "hero", even in sludge like this?

And whoever told Gottfried, Presley, Day, Tone Loc, Sheila E and Vince Neil that this was a good career move deserves the same fate as Clay's career.

In fact, there is only one good thing about this movie, which I'll tell you now so you won't have to seek out this movie to find it.

It's when Gottfried is on an answering system, screeching as only he can, "Is this Chevy Nova, is this the car I want to talk to?"

And if you don't find that funny, by all means, steer clear of this "Ford".

No stars. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

I know, they only go as low as one star here, but this one makes "The Lonely Lady" look like "Birth of a Nation".

My friends and I watched this film around about 1993/4 and thought it was that crap, it was funny! I think its definitely a guy movie as it goes lower than a rattle snake gonads. Some of the lines are bizarre like 'benson hearse piece of shit. I have no idea what it means but its sounds funny in the context of the film. Women will hate it as it is very male chauvinist. You either love this film or hate it. I personally loved it, very easy on the brain cells.

Not a bad movie if you can get past the "Dice-isms" tossed in throughout the movie. That and take this for what it is - fantasy filmmaking by Renny Harlin. Besides, you gotta love any movie that has a dead Vince Neil in a tube rolling through a graveyard!

Sure there is crude humor, but it's *Dice Clay*. He is who he is. This actually seemed cleaned up a bit for him. Mr Rock and roll detective gets to investigate the death of Vince Neil. You throw in Precilla Presley, Gilbert Godfried, Ed O'Neill. That is a recipe for just funny. *Very funny*, lots of good one liners, very quotable. Then again, I evidently have the mental capacity of a dead hamster. ;) If for nothing else, it is a definite watcher for fashion don'ts. Yes we *really* did dress that way in the late 80's early 90's, it was very "Rock and Roll", we thought we were cool. Though now I can't imagine why... Excellent time-period comedy. It's a re-watcher.

Shock comedian Andrew Dice Clay's meteoric rise to super-stardom,circa 1988 thru 1991,was topped off by this Renny Harlin directed tour-de-force. While I cannot claim to be a great fan of "The Dice Man",I can say that his stage presence and confidence makes this movie walk,talk,run and kick butt!

Rock'n roll Private Investigator(he once was a musician)Ford Fairlane(Clay) can't seem to make the rent pay and gets a lot of deadbeat clients. When the deaths of two connected music business types--one of who Ford was once friends with--bite the dust,Ford looks into it and finds himself up to his neck in sadistic killers,groupies,seedy Music industry moguls and,of course,violence. Along for the ride(whether she wants to be or not)is his patient secretary Jazz(Lauren Holly) and the last groupie to see one of the victims alive named(get this!)Zuzu Petals(Maddie Corman).

I gather that most of the critics(assuming all of them DIDN'T trash this)who hated this film were dumping on this show primarily BECAUSE of Mr.Clay and his rudeness,but from what I've sampled of his act,he seems actually pretty restrained in this flick. I saw him first in a TV series that I enjoyed immensely,"Crime Story",and from those two things,plus some of the other work I've caught him in,I think he's actually a perfect,larger-than-life screen presence. This movie moves along easily,and if you can square yourself with Mr.Clay and his humor,you should be just fine with this flick,too.

The first starring vehicle for raunchy, misogynistic comedian Andrew Dice Clay, a much-ballyhooed crime-comedy about a rock-'n-roll detective in Hollywood, based upon a character created by Rex Weiner. It's a predictably tasteless, live-wire human cartoon which does everything it can to tickle its target audience (leering males 25 and under). Dice is a drawling, thickly-accented rube of the Sylvester Stallone school, modern as all get-out in language but with a throwback personality (what he's doing in southern California is a mystery, he seems like he'd be much happier solving cases in a New York borough). After a popular heavy metal singer is murdered, Dice's Ford Fairlane combs the scuzzy music-biz to find the culprits, aided by teen wiseacre Maddie Corman, assistant Lauren Holly (who knows karate!) and a cute Qualla Bear. This material (comic machismo peppered with F-you's) is strictly on a junior-high level, but the supporting cast is professional and there's a pretty funny chase around the outside of the Capitol Records building. *1/2 from ****

There's profanity. Lots of it. PC is out the window! It's derogatory to women. And I can't help but love it. Taking into account the heavily polarized views it's safe to say that you will either hate it or you'll love it. Middle road is very unlikely. But rest assured, IF you love it, the movie will probably make it into your top 10 easy. And after all, that's not all that bad a chance to take. It's not for everyone - I wouldn't recommend it for a romantic evening with your girlfriend. Maybe with your wife :).. But give it a try. You might not hate it.

"The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" was supposed to be raunchy stand-up comic Andrew Dice Clay's launch pad into movie stardom, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your feelings about "Dice") by the time it was released his fifteen minutes of fame was about up, and the film crashed and burned. I will admit that I have never been a big "Dice-Man" fan, I've only ever been able to tolerate his stand-up routines in small doses, but oddly enough, I have always enjoyed this movie. It's big, loud, dumb, profane, and morally reprehensible -- so hey, what's not to like? Clay basically plays himself as the foul mouthed title character (leather jacket, cowboy boots, cigarettes and all), a Los Angeles based private detective who specializes in cases involving the music industry. As the movie opens a rock star by the name of "Johnny Black" (played by Vince Neil of Motley Crue) mysteriously dies onstage. In what he thinks is an unrelated case, Fairlane is hired by a local shock rock DJ (played by Gilbert Gottfried, channeling Howard Stern here) to locate a missing groupie named "Zuzu Petals," who as it turns out, knows more about the death of the rock singer than even she realizes. With his bubble-brained charge in tow, Fairlane spends the rest of the movie avoiding gunshots, explosions and a maniacal Australian hit man (played by Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund of all people, with a horrible Aussie accent) before he stumbles upon a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top of the music industry. "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" may not be a great movie, but it is a fun one. Some of Dice's one-liners are endlessly quotable ("Talking to Zuzu was like masturbating with a cheese grater - mildly entertaining but mostly painful." "So many a-holes, so few bullets!" "You're about ten seconds away from the most embarrassing moment of your life!"), and director Renny Harlin keeps the pace light and moving fast enough that you don't' have time to stop and think how ridiculous the whole thing is. Dice may not be much of an actor, but he gets fine support from Wayne Newton (!), Priscilla Presley, Lauren Holly, Ed O'Neill Jr., and a host of other background characters.

"Ford Fairlane" could become a cult classic if only enough people give it a chance. Even if you're not a fan of the "Dice-Man," this flick is a fast, funny way to kill 90 minutes. Do it for the Koala Bear.

Wow, reading these reviews I only see two points of view: Love and Loathed. Well, there could have been more balanced reviews, but my attention span is just too short.

I rated this film 4/10. Some elements work, but most fall flat. I will start with the positives.

This film has a great supporting cast with too many moments to mention. The jokes of breaking the fourth wall hit every time. The theme song "Rock the Cradle of Love" is fantastic (great bridge). The koala bear and the sorority house cannot be beat. And the "My Hair" moment at Capitol Records busts me up!

However, all is not well for this film, and most of it falls squarely at Dice's feet. His character is just not that sympathetic. Even after living through events resembling a depressing country song, his character is barely sympathetic enough to keep the story together. His "rock and roll" sequence at the recording studio is laughable. The Diceman just can't sing.

I loved the film when it was new, but when I saw it again recently, I was shocked at how bad it was. However, the film picks up when he finds the koala. Following that up with the sorority house gave a one-two punch that put the film back on track. It's a shame those set-pieces didn't come earlier in the film.

On a side note, I was a kid when this film came out. I remember the "Rock the Cradle of Love" video. When I saw it recently, I was shocked at how young that girl looks! She didn't look that young before. All a part of getting older I suppose.

Back to the film. It has some smutty elements in it, so if you're a Holy Roller, avoid this film. Otherwise, I recommend giving the film a chance. Just remember that "class" is not readily apparent.

Andrew Dice Clay, now THERE was a man who was ahead of his time, If he came a decade or two later he would have been heralded as the acting equivalent of say, Eminem.. You know except with talent. OOOOH! Hey is this thing on?? Anyways this movie is greatness & one of my "guilty pleasures". So many quotable lines. So many great cameos. I heard Roger Ebert HATED this movie..yeah Ebert, I F#%^ed him OOOOH!! Seriously go see this movie... NOW, snapperhead.

My Grade: B+

DVD Extras: featurette; Billy Idol music video; theatrical trailer

***SPOILERS*** Signature role for the "Ice Man" Andrew Dice Clay as Mr. Rock & Roll Detective Ford Fairlane the coolest cat on the Sunset Strip. It's when Fairlane gets involved in the mysterious death of rock superstar Bobby Black, Vince Neil, who literately dropped dead on the stage that he uncovers what kinds of double dealing and back stabbing has been going on in the record music industry since the days when multi-billion dollar contract for rock performers, like Bobby Black, came into existence back in the late 1960's.

Checking out mostly Bobby Black groupies who were at the scene of the crime, his last concert, it becomes very evident that Black was slipped a fatal cocktail of drugs and alcohol just before he made his grand appearance by him swinging Tarzan style on the stage. The first tip on what caused Bobby's death, or murder, was the mystery woman Colleen Sutton, Priscilla Presley, who came to see Fairlane about a totally unrelated matter. Colleen wants Fairlane to track down groupie ZuZu Peddles, Maddie Corman, who seems, even though Colleen doesn't quite say it, to be her kid sister. It's when Fairlane connects the missing ZuZu Pettles to his friend disk jockey Johnny Crunch, Gilbert Gottfried, who claims she's his runaway daughter that he smalls a rat and that rat leads all the way to top Hollywood music record producer Mr. "Money Bags" himself Julian Grendel played by Wayne Newton.

Black had somehow hacked into Grendel personal computer and found out he's been short changing him and all the other rock performers who record for his record label in cooking the books on them in what hey made in record earnings over the years. This had Grendel get as much as 95% of the profits of rock stars like Black by drastically lowering the take, ticket sales, that they took in their concerts as well as who many records they sold!

***SPOILERS*** Andrew Dice Clay gets to strut his stuff as Mr. Rock & Roll Detective Ford Fairlane with his 1950's greaser look and off color sexual, mostly about women and gays, jokes but also show he's a sensitive and helpful guy with a heart of gold when he has to be. Despite his crudeness and boorishness Fairland does in fact get the job done even if he ends up making an a** of himself by doing it.

The mad as a hatter Julian Grended has been covering his tracks in murdering anyone who got in his way by exposing his grand scheme of destroying his own record company by stealing the profits of his performers. Grendel's string of murders didn't end with Bobby Black but also included his lover and partner in crime the mysterious Colleen Sutton as well as disk jockey Johnny Crunch. In fact it was Crunch's murder, at his radio station, that cued Fairlane in on Grendel which lead to his ultimate downfall. That together with the only person alive who could finger him ZuZu Peddles who in the end, by secretly planting a microphone on him, had Grendel himself do himself in! That's by telling the thousands of Rock fans listening in on his what Grandel thought was a secret conversation, provided by ZuZu Peddles, in just how moronic they are and how little he thought of both them and their brainless music!

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.