Summary: Fletch is based on a 1974 mystery novel by Gregory McDonald. The book was the first in a series featuring the character Irwin Maurice Fletcher. The series lasted eleven books and even launched a spin off series for a supporting character, Inspector Francis Xavier Flynn, that lasted four books itself. The Edgar Allen Poe Award winning first novel, which the film is based on, introduces I. M. Fletcher, a journalist and ex-marine staying on a beach watching the drug culture for a story, waiting to find the dealer's source before publishing an exposé. When Universal went to cast the film, they initially looked to likes of Burt Reynolds and Mick Jagger, but ultimately settled on Chevy Chase due to his obvious marine like physique and gift of drama. He also had the decided advantage that the author had never seen him in anything when he agreed to his casting. Our film begins much like the book, with Fletch, now just a journalist, staying on a beach watching the drug culture for his column in the paper. Because when I think of drug dealers, I often think of Norm from Cheers. Aren’t drug users usually thin and strung out? Anyways, Fletch is approached by Alan Stanwyk, played by Tim Matheson. Stanwyk tells Fletch that he has inoperable cancer and wants Fletch to kill him so that his family will receive his life insurance...
