The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

A vulgar private detective is hired to find a missing groupie and is drawn into a mystery involving a series of murders tied to the music industry.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers:

Daniel Waters (screenplay), James Cappe (screenplay)

Stars:

Andrew Dice Clay, Lauren Holly, Wayne Newton

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andrew Dice Clay	...	Ford Fairlane
Wayne Newton	...	Julian Grendel
Priscilla Presley	...	Colleen Sutton
Morris Day	...	Don Cleveland
Lauren Holly	...	Jazz
Maddie Corman	...	Zuzu Petals
Gilbert Gottfried	...	Johnny Crunch
David Patrick Kelly	...	Sam
Brandon Call	...	The Kid
Robert Englund	...	Smiley
Ed O'Neill	...	Lt. Amos
Vince Neil	...	Bobby Black
Sheila E.	...	Club Singer
David Arnott	...	Club Guy
Mark Goldstein	...	Club Guy

Storyline

Ford "Mr. Rock n' Roll Detective" Fairlane is experiencing problems, and it's not with the opposite sex. One of them is that all the rock stars pay him with drum sticks, koala bears, food processors and bicycle shorts. Another one of them is that all his employers that want him to find a girl named Zuzu Petals get killed. Why didn't he become a fisherman's detective instead? A must-see for Andrew Dice Clay fans.

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Plot Keywords:

music industry | private detective | record executive | record company | cover up | 

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Taglines:

Meet Ford Fairlane. To his clients, he's the world's greatest rock n roll detective. To everyone else, he's just a dick.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Music | Mystery

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 July 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ford Fairlane

Filming Locations:

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,374,391, 15 July 1990, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$21,413,502

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Ford and Zuzu go up the stairs of the Capitol Records building and end up on the roof, Ford does an impression of James Cagney in White Heat (1949) saying his iconic line "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" In that film, Cagney's character is named Cody Jarrett. Ironically, the actor playing aspiring pop star Kyle Troy is named Cody Jarrett.

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Goofs

When Ford blows out the flame on the milkshake and then takes a drink, it is very obvious that he doesn't even touch the shake and it is also obvious that the 'slurp' is dubbed in.

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Quotes

Ford Fairlane: Excuse me, did I hear the f-word out of you? You say "fuck" again and I'll bang you right to fuck. Now get the fuck out of here.

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Connections

References Streets of Fire (1984)

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Soundtracks

Violent Love
(uncredited)
Performed by Oingo Boingo

User Reviews

Classic!

Sure there is crude humor, but it's *Dice Clay*. He is who he is. This actually seemed cleaned up a bit for him. Mr Rock and roll detective gets to investigate the death of Vince Neil. You throw in Precilla Presley, Gilbert Godfried, Ed O'Neill. That is a recipe for just funny. *Very funny*, lots of good one liners, very quotable. Then again, I evidently have the mental capacity of a dead hamster. ;) If for nothing else, it is a definite watcher for fashion don'ts. Yes we *really* did dress that way in the late 80's early 90's, it was very "Rock and Roll", we thought we were cool. Though now I can't imagine why... Excellent time-period comedy. It's a re-watcher.