I watched The Adventures of Ford Fairlane again recently and had to write this review. I loved this movie the first time I saw it, and I still do. Sure, it’s lewd and crude, but if you appreciate humor for humor’s sake, regardless of its crudeness, this movie will entertain you. Let’s face it, he says he’s not the crudest comedian to dirty theater stages.
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is a comedy rife with foul language, sexual innuendo, and direct sexual suggestions with visual aids, but it’s also a great parody of those smoke-room gumshoe movies and a good action flick to boot.
As rock and roll detective Ford Fairlane, Dice laments the money problems he faces with his private investigation business. He can’t pay his secretary, Jazz, and clients keep sending him non-monetary compensation. INXS sends you a Koala from Australia as payment.
Dialogue is peppered with one-liners and snippets of Clay’s stand-up act, including his trademark neck cracking, comical body twists when lighting cigarettes, and spastic vocal blurries, “…eby…ebbedy…maybe I died in it.” explosion…” The film is a vehicle for Dice’s brand of humor, and the director pulled it off perfectly.
We are treated to Dice’s goofy side as his character unravels a corruption in the record business. Wayne Newton stars as Julian Grendel (appropriate: Grendel to Fairlane’s Beowulf?), a mysterious record mogul with a dark secret that Ford must reveal.
Robert Englund is perfect as Grendel’s goon, and the final showdown at Ford’s IP office is fun, but also impressive and satisfying in a way. Even a stand-up comic can play a Hollywood hero.
It is a love story too. After foiling Grendel’s plot and defeating Smiley (Englund), Ford sets out to find Jazz and seal that romantic ending. For me the movie works, it’s fun, funny, exciting and entertaining. Endearing even. But it’s definitely not for the prudish.
Anyone who doesn’t appreciate Andrew Dice Clay’s brand of humor needs to watch this movie and see Dice at his best. He brings his rugged but goofy and lovable stand-up persona to the big screen. There’s also some effective lighting, as there’s always a twinkle in Fairlane’s eye, bringing a kind of charm to an otherwise rough-hewn character.
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is well written and contains all the key elements that make successful movies, and then some. And it still works today.
