drop dead fred (1991) review
Adult perspective is a hell of a thing. I’d never looked at or thought of 1991 cult classic Drop Dead Fred as an adult after watching it roughly 50 times as an adolescent. Themes covered to varying levels include depression/mental health, friendship, loneliness, selfishness, marital strife, the worship of wealth/influence, love, love unrequited, sexuality, infatuation, adultery, and beauty standards. All of the aforementioned...in a broad comedy with a marketing bent leaning curiously towards children. Drop Dead Fred, silly as it might present, addresses the heavy and heady stuff we’ve come to expect from Academy Award bait films and does so with 5x as many arrows in its quiver and actual fun to be had. It is also just as hilarious today as it was upon release. But it’s dark. Very, very dark. It’s easy to watch as a jaded giant (i.e. adult) and point out the obvious black comedy but 11-15 year old me thought of Fred as the sole attraction and relegated Phoebe Cates' pixie-like Elizabeth to the background. I couldn’t see the abject horror in the bludgeoned-into-the-ground and repressed Elizabeth going through a mental breakdown that would unintentionally summon the world’s most dangerous imaginary friend. That Drop Dead Fred is unceasingly entertaining and funny at all is more frightening when you consider that Fred exists only as a coping mechanism for the unimaginable hurt and isolation felt by Elizabeth. It’s heartbreaking. I missed all of this as a youngling. A Princess Leia-era Carrie Fisher shines as Elizabeth’s only real friend, stealing every scene in which she appears. Shout-out to Bridget Fonda for a tiny but memorable role as 80’s style home-wrecker. Why’d she stop making movies?
Drop Dead Fred is a special experience and time capsule for an "all in" style of filmmaking that was uncommon in 1991 and unheard of now . I highly recommend you go back and experience it again (or for the first time). Fred serves as an uplifting reminder that it’s normal and healthy to be a little crazy. 10/10.