The film's main character was created by writer Rex Weiner in a series of stories that were published as weekly serials in 1979–80 by the New York Rocker and the LA Weekly. The stories were published as a book by Rare Bird Books in July 2018.[6]
DC Comics produced a prequel miniseries of same name.[7]
Private investigator Ford Fairlane is seen sitting on a beach smoking with great melancholy as the film opens. A flashback initiates, showing a roaring crowd at a concert[8] at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, given by fictional popular heavy metal band, "The Black Plague". Lead singer Bobby Black makes an eccentric entrance down a zip line from Creation Rock onto the stage and begins performing. Shortly into one of the band's songs, Bobby Black starts gagging and collapses dead on stage.
After the lead singer of The Black Plague is murdered onstage, shock-jock Johnny Crunch, an old friend who came west with Fairlane to become a rock star, hires Ford to track down a mysterious teenage groupie named Zuzu Petals, who may have a connection to Black's death.
Soon after hiring Fairlane, Crunch is electrocuted on the air. The world's hippest detective soon finds himself trading insults with ruthless record executive Julian Grendel, a clueless cop and former disco star, Lt. Amos, a merciless hit man named Smiley and countless ex-girlfriends out for his blood. Aiding and abetting Fairlane is loyal assistant Jazz and a hip record producer at the head of a bizarre lineup of suspects, victims, beautiful women, and a koala as he finds himself hip-deep in the case of his life.
The MacGuffin of the film is three data CDs which, when read simultaneously, detail the illegal dealings of Julian Grendel, who was getting rich from bootlegging his record company's music and murdered Bobby Black when he found out Black had acquired the CDs with the incriminating evidence. Two of Fairlane's beloved possessions, his house and his car, are blown to bits, courtesy of Grendel, and he loses his prized guitar (a custom design for the original owner, Jimi Hendrix) in a fight with Smiley.
The first disc was with Colleen Sutton, the second with Zuzu Petals, and the third disc was hidden under the star for Art Mooney on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
It is later revealed that Grendel killed Bobby Black and Johnny Crunch, as he considered them both greedy and stupid because they wanted more money for their involvement in pirating CDs to sell to the highest bidder, making Grendel Records and the rest of the music industry corrupt. However, Fairlane kills Grendel by setting him on fire with a flammable alcoholic milkshake and a cigarette. Jazz leaves Fairlane, knowing how ungrateful he is for everything that has happened. Smiley shows up and plans to kill Ford, but not before revealing that he killed his young neighbor's [the Kid's] father. Ford distracts him and kills Smiley with a sleeve pistol. Jazz and Ford decide to reconcile, while the Kid decides to join their detective agency. Ford wins a million-dollar radio contest and buys a yacht. He sails away with Jazz, the Kid, and the koala (now in a neck brace). They're all now one big happy family.
Howard Stern was originally considered for the role of Johnny Crunch.[9]Billy Idol was originally to play Vince Neil's role, and David Bowie was approached to play Newton's.[10]
Production
According to writer Daniel Waters, the film was slated for release in May of 1990 for slate against Cadillac Man and Bird on a Wire, but Fox moved it back to July to "to build Dice awareness", which he cited as a mistake.[11]
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 featured:[12]
The film's soundtrack includes Idol's "Cradle of Love", which also appeared on Idol's 1990 album Charmed Life.[13]
A number of the musicians featured on the soundtrack also appeared in the film itself, including Morris Day, Sheila E., and Tone Loc (as Slam the Rapper). The members of the fictional band Black Plague are played by professional musicians: Vince Neil, lead singer of Mötley Crüe; Ozzy Osbourne bassist Phil Soussan and drummer Randy Castillo; and Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Richie Sambora's contribution to the soundtrack was a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song "Wind Cries Mary". Yello's "Unbelievable" samples dialogue from the film, although a phone number given as "1-800-Perfect" is changed to "1-800-Unbelievable". Not appearing on the soundtrack is "Booty Time", the song that Ed O'Neill's character performs during the film.
Yello is also credited with the film's music score, and an early cut of their album Baby is used as the film's incidental soundtrack. Barry McIlheney in Q magazine was critical of the collection and only highlighted the Billy Idol contribution while giving the overall release 2 out 5 stars.[14]
Release
Critical response
The film received generally negative reviews upon release.[15]Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 25% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10.[16] On Metacritic, the film has a 24 out of 100 rating based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[17] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A+ to F.[18]
Roger Ebert gave the film 1 star out of a possible 4, and called the film "loud, ugly and mean-spirited" but he also suggested that Clay had the confidence and screen presence for a successful acting career if he could move beyond his shtick.[19] He and fellow critic Gene Siskel each gave the film a thumbs down on their series Siskel & Ebert & the Movies.[20]
Box office
The film was not a financial success during its original theatrical release, making just over $21 million in the U.S.[3] According to Clay, "They pulled my movie...in a week...I was a lightning rod for everything [politically correct]".[21]
^Weiner, Rex; Schwartz, Andy; Levin, Jay; Mutrux, Floyd (July 17, 2018). The (Original) Adventures of Ford Fairlane: The Long Lost Rock n' Roll Detective Stories (Original ed.). S.l.: Rare Bird Books, A Vireo Book. ISBN9781945572807.
Steve Baker, Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda, Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy, Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo, Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro, Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark – Movie 43 (2013)
