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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Equal with the movie, as different as it is similar, 23 April 2005
I've always wanted to get my hands on the Fletch books, but here in the UK they are quite difficult to come by. The recent American printings are not available in stores over here so image how cool it was when I got all of them for Xmas. Who cares if they are older printings?Chevy Chase is one of my favorite actors (though he does seem to have vanished off the face of the earth recently save for campaigning heavily and controversially with Senator John Kerry in the recent elections) and I love the Fletch movies. Many people use the unoriginal expression that 'the book is always better than the movie' but, as my review title says, they usually end up being as good as each other. The book is slightly harder in tone and Fletch's sarcasm frequently comes across as arrogance. I understand the movie had to keep things a bit lighter in order to be a PG but the whole drug smuggling and corrupt cops plot is just as serious her as in the movie. Stuff like Fletch's drug-addicted 15-year-old girlfriend, her death and a fair amount of swearing are the only differences the books has in tone. Where is seems a bit bland in comparison to the movie is that it's fairly static. Also, the final confrontation with Alan Stanwyk has a touch more nobility and Fletch's attitude towards him less apathetic. In Fletch the movie Chevy Chase travels all over the place, impersonating people, using crazy aliases, breaking and entering etc. But in the book most of the aliases and investigation is done through phone calls at his office or from his apartment. It lacks excitement in this respect. All your favorite characters are still in here such as Fletch's perpetually angry boss Frank and the sleazy Lawyer Gillette (Arnold T. Pants Esq.). Definitely a book to read for fans of the movie or anyone who enjoys crime fiction. And how natural does it seem to imagine Chevy Chase as Fletch regardless of the tone or situation?
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by Gregory McDonald
by Gregory McDonald
by Gregory Mcdonald
by Gregory McDonald
by Gregory McDonald
