I enjoyed this one as much as the first film, though the first is easily the better of the two films in terms of quality and story. This one makes up for the lack in those two areas by being crazier and in areas simply funnier. A relative of Fletch has died and left him their entire estate, a mansion in the south. Well Fletch thinks he has finally found an out to the hustle and bustle of Los Angelos and the annoyances of his ex wife's attorney. Well he arrives at this great place and quickly finds a dump. Not only that soon after he arrives he sleeps with a woman and wakes up to find her dead. So he is not off to an exactly rousing start in his new home. He is also getting pressured by the local televangelist to donate his land to some sort of bible themed amusement park. The film works thanks to the zany situations that Fletch must go through to get behind the truth of who is responsible for his many misfortunes. Some of the highlights in this one include a rather funny gathering of the Klu Klux Klan in front of Fletch's new home, two funny healing scenes in the televangelist church, and a rather humorous chase scene on some motorcycles. The other cast members are good in this one too as it is nice to see that guy who always play a drill sergeant do the role of the preacher. He actually does a rather nice job. Good movie to me that while it is not quite as realistic as the first or have the story, but it makes up for it by being more fun in places.

From LA to Louisiana. It's off to the deep south for the Los Angeles Times reporter who inherits a Louisiana country plantation, and finds himself involved in something shady over offers to purchase it. The estate manager is murdered the night he gets there and sleeps with her, and he finds himself in trouble. With the help of a Mark Twain like attorney (Hal Holbrook) and a dizzy caretaker (Cleavon Little),Chase digs to find out what's going on, and finds himself interacting with a bunch of stereotypical Southerners, even in his dreams which includes an amusing version of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah".

Poor Cleavon Little plays a stereotypically cliched black man who is written to have not much intelligence, but Little seems to be subtly injecting charm and warmth and a sly knowing in his characterization that wasn't in the bad original script. It's difficult not to cringe at some of the lines he is forced to say, but then there's a wink to the audience that the character knows more than he's letting on. At least in the scene where the clan appears, they are written to appear as illiterate idiots. Randall "Tex" Cobb gets the epitome of tackiness as a crass charscter Chase shares a jail with, eyerollingly named Ben Dover. And his name means exactly what it sounds like.

So if you can find some humor in a comedy of extreme bad taste (some of the jokes are funny, a lot of them majorly not),you might find it amusing. It's not entirely repulsive, and Chase does not disappoint as far as his continuation of the character is concerned. R. Lee Ermey isn't as amusing a phony evangelist as Paul Sorvino and Andy Kaufman were in other movies, and I did appreciate Chase's observation that he believes in God as long as God doesn't require heavy financing. But the film overall is a bit disturbing with elements of it that were as tacky in the late 80s as they are 30 years later.

Chevy Chase returns as goofy reporter Irwin Fletcher. This time, he inherits a Louisiana mansion and decides to move there. On the way, he expects the mansion (and the South overall) to be a "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" world, but finds just the opposite when he arrives. To complicate matters, he finds himself involved in a murder plot, gets chased by the Ku Klux Klan, and various other mishaps.

Oh come on! I shouldn't have to explain "Fletch Lives" to you! The very presence of Chevy Chase should identify that it's a hilariously wacky good time (remember, he was funny before his failed attempt at a TV show; and he did play a good role in "Orange County"). I don't care what anyone says; Chevy Chase is truly one of the funniest people in history.