Posts made in May, 2012
No PopD This Week!
Due to an unexpected but blessed event (a surprise visit from Krissie) we ran out of time to do a PopD this week. We’ll be back next Monday with Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. See you then!
Read MoreBeverly Hills Cop
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Story: A Detroit cop head to Beverly Hills to investigate the death of one of his buddies.
Detective: Axel Foley
Release Date: December 5, 1984
Writer: Danilo Back, Daniel Petrie, Jr.
Source: original screenplay
Mystery Analysis:
Detective as protagonist?
Alastair: Yes, there’s no doubt this is Axel’s story.
Lani: Yes, always clear from the start who the protagonist is, although the trouble doesn’t start until a little while in.
Murderer as antagonist?
Alastair: Yes, albeit by proxy.
Lani: Yes, although not the guy who actually pulled the trigger, it’s Victor Maitland who’s behind everything from the start.
Conflict created by mystery/murder?
Alastair: Yes, although this is an interesting case of a murder that builds into a larger mystery.
Lani: Yes; without the murder, Axel would have no interest in Maitland.
Fair play with all the clues given?
Alastair: It’s not that kind of mystery, I think, although the meaning of each clue — except perhaps the coffee — is transparent enough that we can keep up.
Lani: Not really; although we do see the clues, we don’t know what they might mean, and we’re not given the opportunity to play along the way a good mystery does.
Solved using deduction, not luck?
Alastair: Yes, although the problems aren’t necessarily approached in the smartest way.
Lani: Yes. Even if we don’t understand what’s going on, Axel does, and he puts it all together.
All threads pull together in the end?
Alastair: Yes, if a little too early. The mystery is done by the end of the second act, and then we get twenty-five minutes of shoot-out.
Lani: Yes.
Story Analysis & Ratings:
Alastair says: 4 Pops
Mystery: 3, Craft: 3, Suspense: 2, Romance: N/A, Comedy: 5
Lani says: 4 Pops
Mystery: 3, Craft: 4, Suspense: 2, Romance: n/a, Comedy: 5
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Fletch
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Story: A journalist covering the drug scene on a Los Angeles beach soon finds himself embroiled in a bigger mystery involving a bigamist and his beautiful wife.
Detective: Irwin M. Fletcher
Release Date: May 31, 1985
Writer: Andrew Bergman
Source: Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Mystery Analysis:
Detective as protagonist?
Jenny: Yep, right off the bat. Good start.
Lani: Yes, and he’s right into the trouble as soon as the movie fades in. Well done.
Murderer as antagonist?
Jenny: Yep, right off the bat. Plus Tim Matheson. Excellent start.
Lani: Yes, and he’s there from the start. You could argue that Karlin is also an antagonist, and you’d be right, but he’s also there at the start; although we don’t see him until later, his influence is right there, causing trouble on the beach when Gummy’s getting beat up. So no matter who you think the main antagonist is – it’s Matheson – both antagonists are active in the opening scene.
Conflict created by mystery/murder?
Jenny: Yes, by the request for murder.
Lani: Yes.
Fair play with all the clues given?
Jenny: Yep, we see them as Fletch finds them.
Lani: Yes; we see everything as Fletch finds it. We don’t get his deduction; he says he figured it out when Gail said he was about the same size as her husband, and he doesn’t tell us that. He doesn’t have to. We get the clue, and we can make the deduction from that as well. I kind of liked that he had it figured, but we still had to do our own work.
Solved using deduction, not luck?
Jenny: Yes. Except for the glaring coincidence at the beginning which is allowable since it’s the first move in the plot, every is discovered using logical deduction.
Lani: Yes; Fletch (well, Smart Fletch) figures it all out on his own. Stupid Fletch sticks straws up his nose.
Story Analysis & Ratings:
Jenny says: 3 Pops (They had a good book and they put garbage in it.)
Mystery: 5, Craft: 2, Suspense: 2, Romance: N/A, Comedy: 3
Lani says: 4 Pops
Mystery: 5, Craft: 4, Suspense: 2, Romance: n/a, Comedy: 3
IMPORTANT NOTE:
I recommended the Fletch books on the podcast, and then afterward sat down to read the first book for the first time in about twenty years. In this book, he sleeps with a fifteen-year-old, a detail I evidently missed the first time around. I no longer recommend the Fletch books. Try the Flynn books. Francis Xavier Flynn is a good guy.
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