Drop Dead Fred
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Drop Dead Fred | |
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| Directed by | Ate de Jong |
| Produced by | Paul Webster |
| Written by | Elizabeth Livingston(story) Carlos Davis Anthony Fingleton (screenplay) |
| Starring | Phoebe Cates Rik Mayall Stuart Ward |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | April 19, 1991 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Country | USA/UK |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Drop Dead Fred is a 1991 comedy film released by New Line Cinema. and directed by Ate de Jong. Rik Mayall stars as Drop Dead Fred of the title, the imaginary friend of Elizabeth, played as an adult by Phoebe Cates. The supporting cast includes Marsha Mason, Tim Matheson, Carrie Fisher, and Ashley Peldon as young Elizabeth. The film centers on an introverted young woman who is reunited with the imaginary friend of her youth, often with manic and unpredictable results.
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[edit] Tagline
- Dishes. Relationships. Wind. This guy breaks EVERYTHING.
[edit] Synopsis
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Cronin (Phoebe Cates) is a repressed young woman (with "wallflower" tendencies) who lets others walk all over her. One day she loses her money, her car, her job, and her husband within the same lunch hour. Following this turn of events, Lizzie's domineering mother Polly (Marsha Mason) forces her to return and live in her childhood home.
Returning to her old bedroom, Lizzie finds a taped-up jack-in-the-box in the cupboard. She opens it and releases Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall): her imaginary friend from childhood, whom only Lizzie can see. Through a series of flashbacks it is revealed that as a child, Lizzie was tormented by the overbearing Polly, who drove away Lizzie's father Nigel. It was Fred alone who made Lizzie happy and gave her an outlet for her frustrations, though Fred was a troublemaker who wreaked havoc wherever he went, always shifting the blame to Lizzie for his tricks. Fred was eventually sealed in the jack-in-the-box by Polly. Upon being released by an adult Lizzie, he is disappointed that she has grown up and lost her zest for life.
Fred promises to make Lizzie happy again. She says that will happen only if she is reunited with her husband Charles (Tim Matheson), who cheats on her. Fred helps out as only he can, which gets Lizzie into even more trouble with her friends, and with Polly. Then Lizzie is reunited with her childhood crush Mickey Bunce (Ron Eldard), who is now a recently-divorced single parent. Although Mickey would love to resume his friendship with Lizzie, she is bent on saving her marriage to Charles.
Lizzie has a "makeover" at the behest of Polly. With this new look, Lizzie woos back her husband. She also lets Polly take her to a psychiatrist (Alycia Lutz), who prescribes drugs which will rid Lizzie of Fred. (Fred is seen to behave in a lethargic manner in the presence of Lizzie while she is on this prescription.) Just before Lizzie takes the last of these pills, she learns that Charles is still cheating on her. Heartbroken, Lizzie turns back to Fred.
In a dream sequence, Fred helps Lizzie face the two demons of her life: Charles and Polly. In her old room, Lizzie finds her childhood self strapped to her bed. Lizzie unstraps her young self and, in the process, frees her present adult self. Fred tells the reluctant Lizzie that, after all these years, she no longer needs him. He kisses her goodbye and disappears.
Lizzie returns to the real world and dumps Charles for good. Then she collects her belongings from Polly's house, including Fred's jack-in-the-box. Lizzie tells her mother how she feels about the way Polly has always treated her. Lizzie also tells Polly what she thinks of how Polly treated Nigel...who, as a result, finally walked out on them despite his love for Lizzie. Now it's Lizzie's turn to walk out on her mother, which leaves Polly well and truly alone.
Lizzie goes to Mickey and makes peace with him. She also hits it off with his daughter, whom Mickey explains is quite a handful. As they approach Mickey's house, his daughter nearly runs into them. Mickey's live-in nanny claims the "young lady" has made a terrible mess, which the girl blames on Drop Dead Fred. Lizzie realizes that Fred has not truly gone; he is now the imaginary friend of Mickey's daughter.
[edit] Cast
- Phoebe Cates as Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Cronin
- Rik Mayall as Drop Dead Fred
- Marsha Mason as Polly Cronin
- Tim Matheson as Charles
- Carrie Fisher as Janie
- Keith Charles as Murray
- Ashley Peldon as Young Elizabeth
- Daniel Gerroll as Nigel Cronin
- Ron Eldard as Mickey Bunce
- Bridget Fonda as Annabella (uncredited)
[edit] Locations
In addition to the studio scenes, on-scene filming took place at many locations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. These include the Gaviidae Common on Nicollet Mall, Lowry Hill and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; Harriet Island, and the Wells Fargo Tower in St. Paul; and Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
[edit] Release and response
The film was released to cinemas on April 19, 1991. It performed poorly at the box office, grossing $3,625,648 on its opening weekend and $13,878,334 over its entire theatrical run.[1]. According to film critic and historian Leonard Maltin: "Phoebe Cates' appealing performance can't salvage this putrid mess...recommended only for people who think nose-picking is funny."
It was released on DVD on July 22, 2003.[2]
By 2008, the DVD had gone out of print, and one sold for more than $40 at eBay. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ Drop Dead Fred at BoxOfficeMojo.com
- ^ Drop Dead Fred at Amazon.com
- ^ Drop Dead Fred sells for $41.00 at eBay on May 23, 2008
