Controversial standup comic Andrew Dice Clay crashed and burned in this awkward misstep from action director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2: Die Harder).
The over-hyped Clay plays rock ‘n’ roll detective Ford Fairlane, who is investigating the onstage death of a heavy metal singer in this crude adventure, which is big on empty spectacle but very low on honest laughs.
Fairlane has an office on Sunset Boulevard and roams nightclubs and rock concerts in search of clients, suspects and action.
He gets a lot of action – one of the motifs of the film is how he gobbles up women, usually two at a time, and spits them out the next morning.
He has a faithful Girl Friday (Lauren Holly) who waits patiently in the office, taking phone calls and telling lies.
Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street opus) turns up as Smiley, a hitman with a bad English accent. The role was supposed to have been played by Billy Idol but he had to give up the role after a near-fatal motorcycle accident.
Priscilla Presley and Wayne Newton (as a nasty band manager) send themselves up as usual.
In a supporting role as Lt. Amos (who once had disco ambitions) is Ed O’Neill, who was immensely popular at the time as Al Bundy in Married . . . with Children. Brandon Call, the first actor to play David Hasselhoff’s son in Baywatch, is the boy who Ford takes care of a little.
For a movie about the music business, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane has surprisingly little music in it.
Of course, there’s the wall-to-wall background score by Yello, but there’s little in the way of performance; Sheila E and Mötley Crüe‘s Vince Neil get one song phrase apiece on camera, and Clay himself belts out half of a rock number.
Critics panned it, audiences stayed away, and it even earned a Golden Raspberry nomination for the worst film of the year. A little Clay goes a long, long way.
Ford Fairlane
Andrew Dice Clay Jazz
Lauren Holly Julian Grendel
Wayne Newton Colleen Sutton
Priscilla Presley Lt Amos
Ed O’Neill Don Cleveland
Morris Day Zuzu Petals
Maddie Corman Johnny Crunch
Gilbert Gottfried The Kid
Brandon Call Sam
David Patrick Kelly Smiley
Robert Englund Bobby Black
Vince Neil
Director
Renny Harlin
Video
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Fairlane has an office on Sunset Boulevard and roams nightclubs and rock concerts in search of clients, suspects and action.
Of course, there’s the wall-to-wall background score by Yello, but there’s little in the way of performance; Sheila E and Mötley Crüe‘s Vince Neil get one song phrase apiece on camera, and Clay himself belts out half of a rock number.
Jazz
Johnny Crunch
