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Drop Dead Fred

Play trailer 2:08 Poster for Drop Dead Fred PG-13 1991 1h 43m Fantasy Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
11% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
An unhappy housewife (Phoebe Cates) gets a lift from the return of her imaginary childhood friend, Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall).
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Drop Dead Fred

Drop Dead Fred

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Critics Consensus

Tackling mature themes with an infantile sensibility, Drop Dead Fred is an ill-conceived family comedy that is more likely to stir up a headache than the imagination.

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Critics Reviews

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Michael Wilmington Los Angeles Times 05/05/2014
Drop Dead Fred is an erratic stab at making madness sensible, a slapstick nightmare that goes too sane, that tries too hard to be both good and rotten. Go to Full Review
Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune 05/05/2014
0/4
This is easily one of the worst films I've ever seen. Go to Full Review
Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer 05/05/2014
1.5/4
The episodic flashbacks are cast in an unfunny Freudian light -- domineering mother, helpless hubby, the tragically withdrawn child. What a laugh riot! Go to Full Review
Tony Black Cultural Conversation 02/16/2021
2/5
The crucial problem of course is that for a comedy, it's not really very funny. Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins 09/11/2020
5/10
Fred is a particularly crass, unappealing imaginary friend, going out of his way to stir up trouble more than engaging in fun activities. Go to Full Review
Jorge Loser Espinof 08/11/2020
3.5/5
A fantastic cult comedy. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Donald K. @djkidd_89 Dec 17 Favorite film from my childhood! Love it See more Julian B Nov 18 A Classic comedy love it, highly recommend watching See more Onebeat G Oct 12 One of the only movies that I loved as a child and still love as an adult. What a difference between the tomatometer score and the real audience score. Just shows you can't pay too much attention to ratings. It's laugh out loud funny thanks to the legendary cast. RIP Rik Mayall. See more Aug 26 I loved this movie as a kid when it first came out. This is a movie that I would watch over and over again. Even over 30 years later I still enjoy it as an adult! I think the posh reviewers are dead wrong about this movie! It is great and I highly recommend!! See more thiago s @Thiagostone Aug 2 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Todd B Jun 1 A corky comedy about a childhood make believe imagination that revisits her in her adulthood. A good movie 🎬. See more Read all reviews
Drop Dead Fred

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Movie Info

Synopsis An unhappy housewife (Phoebe Cates) gets a lift from the return of her imaginary childhood friend, Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall).
Director
Ate de Jong
Producer
Paul Webster
Screenwriter
Elizabeth Livingston, Carlos Davis, Anthony Fingleton
Distributor
New Line Cinema
Production Co
New Line Cinema, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Fantasy, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 19, 1991, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$13.9M
Runtime
1h 43m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround, Stereo
Aspect Ratio
35mm
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