I think Chevy Chase and Bill Murray are parts of the same cloth, cut from different corners with fespect to acting. They both need a very firm director to keep them and the film on track, otherwise some of their projects veer off into vanity or extended, look at me act scenes. Murray's The Razor's edge is probably the best example of that for him, although you can see glimpses of it in Ghostbusters, but Ivan Reitman did an excellent job limiting it, that and the editing process, for Chase films, take your pick.
You make a great point. There's this tendency to juxtapose Chase and Murray because of their confrontational history but in reality they share many traits. I think your observation could also apply to some degree to Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, that they need the right directors to manage them.
And yeah, I can think of several Chase movies where the lack of a canny director resulted in a mess. Modern Problems and Nothing But Trouble really jump to my mind.
So, technically the credit should have been "screenplay by Andrew Bergman and Chevy Chase...".
Bergman was a co-author of the script for my favorite comedy film, "Blazing Saddles", and sole author of another one I liked, "The In-Laws". But I can't say I really cared for "Fletch". Not like you...
This is fair criticism. I didn't look into Andrew Bergman's side of this. My focus was mainly on what role Chase played and I neglected other parts of the movie. TBH, I'm not a big fan of the movie, either. I'm more fascinated by how the book and film ended up being very different. Thanks for reading my work!
I think Chevy Chase and Bill Murray are parts of the same cloth, cut from different corners with fespect to acting. They both need a very firm director to keep them and the film on track, otherwise some of their projects veer off into vanity or extended, look at me act scenes. Murray's The Razor's edge is probably the best example of that for him, although you can see glimpses of it in Ghostbusters, but Ivan Reitman did an excellent job limiting it, that and the editing process, for Chase films, take your pick.
You make a great point. There's this tendency to juxtapose Chase and Murray because of their confrontational history but in reality they share many traits. I think your observation could also apply to some degree to Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, that they need the right directors to manage them.
And yeah, I can think of several Chase movies where the lack of a canny director resulted in a mess. Modern Problems and Nothing But Trouble really jump to my mind.
Good parallel there. Two actors that are supremely talented but need to be reined in from time to time.
Awwwww thanks for the shout! Just catching up from the weekend. This was a great finish!
Thank you for the great turn of phrase! I'm glad you enjoyed part 2.
So, technically the credit should have been "screenplay by Andrew Bergman and Chevy Chase...".
Bergman was a co-author of the script for my favorite comedy film, "Blazing Saddles", and sole author of another one I liked, "The In-Laws". But I can't say I really cared for "Fletch". Not like you...
This is fair criticism. I didn't look into Andrew Bergman's side of this. My focus was mainly on what role Chase played and I neglected other parts of the movie. TBH, I'm not a big fan of the movie, either. I'm more fascinated by how the book and film ended up being very different. Thanks for reading my work!