The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
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| The Adventures of Ford Fairlane | |
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 The Adventures of Ford Fairlane movie poster |
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| Directed by | Renny Harlin |
| Produced by | Michael Levy, Steve Perry, Joel Silver, Suzanne Todd |
| Written by | Daniel Waters, James Cappe, David Arnott, based on characters created by Rex Weiner |
| Starring | Andrew Dice Clay Priscilla Presley Wayne Newton Robert Englund Gilbert Gottfried Lauren Holly |
| Music by | Boris Blank |
| Cinematography | Oliver Wood |
| Editing by | Michael Tronick |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | July 11, 1990 (United States) |
| Running time | 104 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is a 1990 action/comedy film starring controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay as Ford Fairlane, a private detective whose beat is the music industry in Los Angeles. The film was directed by Renny Harlin, who also directed Die Hard 2: Die Harder that same year. It was released on DVD on December 16, 2003.
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[edit] Plot summary
Ford "Mr. Rock and Roll Detective" Fairlane has a life that is not what it is cracked up to be. He has his hands full investigating a murder, and is watching over a kid of the presumed missing man while investigating. He has trouble with women, the rock stars don't pay him well. He deals with a sleazy record executive and a killer. In the end, Ford of course triumphs over the bad guys and all's well that ends well.
[edit] Development
Ford Fairlane first appeared as a series of stories by journalist Rex Weiner that were published in the New York Rocker (now defunct) and the LA Weekly. A voodoo doll of Howard Stern (close friend of Gottfried and Dice Clay) can be seen hanging in Johnny Crunch's studio.
According to a late 80's issue of Playboy, comedian/musician Mojo Nixon was originally slated to play Ford Fairlane.
[edit] Cast
- Andrew Dice Clay ... Ford Fairlane
- Wayne Newton ... Julian Grendel
- Priscilla Presley ... Colleen Sutton
- Lauren Holly ... Jazz
- Gilbert Gottfried ... Johnny Crunch
- Maddie Corman ... ZuZu Petals
- David Patrick Kelly ... "Sam" the sleaze bag
- Brandon Call ... The Kid
- Robert Englund ... Smiley
- Ed O'Neill ... Lt. Amos
- Vince Neil ... Bobby Black
- Morris Day ... Don Cleveland
- Sheila E. ... Club singer
[edit] Soundtrack
Music being central to the plot of a film about a private detective who specializes in cases arising from the music industry, the soundtrack featured a diverse group of artists. The official soundtrack release had the following tracks:
- "Cradle of Love" - Billy Idol
- "Sea Cruise" - Dion
- "Funky Attitude" - Sheila E.
- "Glad to Be Alive" - Lisa Fisher, Teddy Pendergrass
- "Can't Get Enough" - Tone Loc
- "Rock 'N Roll Junkie" - Mötley Crüe
- "I Ain't Got You" - Andrew Dice Clay
- "Last Time in Paris" - Queensrÿche
- "Unbelievable" - Yello
- "Wind Cries Mary" - Richie Sambora
The film's soundtrack is perhaps most notable for its inclusion of Idol's "Cradle of Love," the video for which was shown often on MTV in 1990. The song also appeared on Idol's 1990 album Charmed Life. In the video, a young woman, played by Betsy Lynn George, taunts a conservative neighbor with her advances as she dances to the music. The video also featured footage from the film playing on a television in the neighbor's home, although none of the footage features Clay (at least not his face). This may be due to the infamous ban of Clay from appearing on the music network.[citation needed]
Sambora's contribution to the soundtrack was a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song. EMF's "Unbelievable" samples bits of dialogue from the film, but did not feature on the soundtrack. A number of the musicians featured on the soundtrack also appeared in the film itself, including Sheila E., Tone Loc (as Slam the Rapper), and Vince Neil, the lead singer of Mötley Crüe (who appeared as Bobby Black, the lead singer of the fictitious band, Black Plague). Not appearing on the soundtrack is "Booty Time," the song that Ed O'Neill's character performs during the film.
[edit] Reception
The film received mostly negative reviews upon release and holds a "rotten" 26% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. [1] Critic Roger Ebert called the film "loud, ugly and mean-spirited" [2]
It was not a financial success during its original theatrical release, making just over $21 Million in the U.S. [3]
The film "won" the 1991 Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor (Andrew Dice Clay), Worst Picture (Joel Silver & Steve Perry - tied with Ghosts Can't Do It) and Worst Screenplay (Daniel Waters, James Cappe & David Arnott). It was also nominated for Worst Director and twice for Worst Supporting Actor (for both Gilbert Gottfried and Wayne Newton). [4]
Billy Idol's recording of "Cradle of Love" was named one of the "Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures" by the ASCAP. [5]
In Hungary the film was propably the biggest phenomenon of the video tape era in the early '90s. Illegal copies of the movie were circulating in the country. (The popularity was given by the hungarian dubbing of the movie: really dirty language was used, and catchphrases became part of the slang very quickly.)
In Norway, after the movie was released on VHS in 1992, Ford Fairlane soon became a phenomenon. The catchphrases quickly became hugely popular and the movie received cult status during the 90s. After huge demand from Norwegian audiences the movie was released on DVD in the early 2000s.
It has been speculated in that European audiences 'got' the humour used in Ford Fairlane better, than the US market.
An interesting link is that Norwegian director, Harald Zwart, used Andrew Clay in a role in his Hollywoood movie One Night at McCool's.
