Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #860 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-06-28
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dolby, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
This not-quite-black comedy was probably a laugh riot on paper. The translation almost works, but the execution is flawed. Phoebe Cates is a recently separated young woman who suddenly begins to see her supposedly imagined childhood friend (the titular Drop Dead Fred) after moving back into her mother's home. Is he a manifestation of her secret desires to ditch the boorish spouse? Or was he real all along? Rik Mayall is a limber, carrot-topped comic with the lamentable assignment of trying to make us laugh with vulgar, sophomoric trickery. He is supposedly the repository of Cates's fastidious repression but is more annoying than cathartic. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com

Synopsis
A chaotic comic fantasy about Elizabeth, an ineffectual young woman (Phoebe Cates) who leaves her unfaithful husband and returns home only to be oppressed by her overbearing mother. She comes across one of her childhood toys, a Jack-in-the-box, in which her frustrated mother imprisoned Elizabeth's childhood "imaginary" friend Fred, many years ago. Low and behold she opens the box once more, and out springs Fred with 21 years of pranks stored up! The mischievous Fred enters Elizabeth's life like a whirlwind, shaking her out of her passivity with his outrageous antics. Egged on by her manic little sidekick and his hilarious escapades, a revitalised Elizabeth embarks on a campaign to win back her errant husband. Rik Mayall is perfectly mischievous and off-the-wall as the chaos-creating pal in this impish tale.

Customer Reviews

DDF Rules!
I first saw this movie when I was about seven years old, and the only thing that I could remember was Fred's shoes lying in the street after he's been run over by a fire engine.

Fortunately, I got the video a few years later (and wore it out...I had to buy the DVD yesterday!) and totally fell in love with it.
Drop Dead Fred may not be a "typical" kids movie...But would you expect that with the genius Rik Mayall playing Fred?
This is a sweet, funny, and...Yeah okay, I'll say it...Heartwarming movie that you can watch again and again and get something else from it each time. Anyone who thinks Rik can't act, look at his last scene with Lizzie.
I still cry to this day ^_~

Drop Dead Fred
This has been my favourite film for as long as i could remember! It's a definate must-see for anyone of any age; it's a truly inspirational film about facing your fears, of course mixed with amazing humour that will have you in stitches for hours! I really do think you should watch this film, it's just too good to miss!

An uproariously hilarious movie!
When Elizabeth (played by Phoebe Cates) finds her marriage to a manipulative, two-timing husband (Tim Matheson) on the rocks, to her chagrin, her mother moves her back home and takes control of her life. But then she makes a strange discovery, in the back of her old closet is her old jack-in-the-box, covered in the tape her mother had put there to lock in her imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred. Opening the tape, who should pop out? Not jack, but Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall)!

Fred is stark raving mad, and out to cause as much mayhem as possible, but no one can see him but Elizabeth, so who still gets the blame after all these years? But Fred is back, because Elizabeth is terribly unhappy. In his own weird and wacky way, he is out to set Elizabeth on the right track, and everyone needs a friend.

This is a very funny movie, an uproariously hilarious movie! Rik Mayall (Rick from The Young Ones) does a great job of taking Fred over the top, and off to the outer reaches of wackiness. His gross humor (lots of doggy-do, nose-picking, hits to the head, and so forth) may turn some off, but is sure to please any connoisseur of craziness.

Now, is this a family-friendly movie? Well, not exactly, there are some off-color remarks and adult innuendo, but not much. The big problem is that there is one scene where you see a naked man from behind. But, other than that it is pretty good. I showed it to my kids, and they loved it. I liked that it also had a lesson of finding happiness inside yourself.

So, as for my family and I, we loved this movie, and highly recommend it to you!