The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane

Back in the late 80's/early 90's, stand up comic Andrew Dice Clay became a phenomenon. His shows would sell out venues like Madison Square Garden. Most people were divided on his brand of humor. Personally, I liked him, but I was a fan of his from his supporting roles in movies like Making The Grade and Private Resort long before his comedy stylings took off. His following was so big that it didn't take long for Hollywood to come knocking with a starring vehicle, 1990's The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane.

Clay plays Ford Fairlane, a rock n roll detective who gets a big case from an old childhood friend who now is a popular shock jock named Johnny Crunch, Gilbert Gottfried. Crunch has Ford search for a missing groupie named Zuzu Petals, Maddie Corman, who might be a possible suspect in the murder of a heavy metal star, Vince Neil. The closer he gets to finding Zuzu, Ford encounters a cavalcade of possible murder suspects that includes record mogul Julian Grendel, Wayne Newton, a crazed hitman, Robert England, and a socialite, Priscilla Presley.

Clay, even though he is doing his Diceman persona, is good in the title role. It doesn't hurt that he is aided by a top notch supporting cast that also includes Lauren Holly, Morris Day, and Ed O'Neil. This was basically Clay's one real shot at being a leading man, not counting some direct to video movies he starred in. But the camp of Clay haters put such a negative vibe on the film before it's release that it didn't stand much of a chance of being a hit.

This was produced by Joel Silver, who was the go to guy for big, Hollywood action films, like Die Hard and Predator, at the time. Silver brought on his Die Hard 2 director, Renny Harlin, to direct. He also had Heathers scribe Daniel Waters to polish up the script, I heard that Waters had a rough time working with Clay. I imagine that Clay wanted to improvise most of his lines instead of what Waters wrote. On the dvd commentary, Harlin says that everybody else pretty much got along with the Diceman.

Originally this was supposed to play up the rock n roll angle even more than it does. David Bowie was originally cast as Julian, but he had issues with Silver. Billy Idol was going to play the hitman before he dropped out. And Clay really pushed for Howard Stern to play Johnny Crunch, but Silver nixed this idea in favor of a more seasoned actor. This is probably the only place you will read someone referring to Gottfried as a seasoned actor.

This movie has a lot of laughs, action, and a good dose of noir. Although, if you can't stand Dice, than this probably won't be your cup of tea.

It's available on dvd and blu ray.