TheExpatriate700
Fearless Frank is a genuinely odd early work by Philip Kaufman, featuring an early performance by Jon Voight as a flawed superhero. It attempts to recreate the feel and atmosphere of a comic book, particularly in its first half. Ultimately, it is a mixed bag that will have difficulty appealing either to children or to fans of experimental film.If you watch only the first half hour, Fearless Frank appears to be intended as a children's film. The characters seem straight out of a Dick Tracy comic, complete with bizarrely disfigured criminals. There is a definite camp element to this section of the film, with comic narration provided by a mysterious, and melodramatic, on screen narrator with a typewriter. Similarly, a scientist's patented evil detector gives the proceedings the feel of a sixties children's matinée. Only the plot line, which revolves around a young farm boy resurrected from the dead to become a superhero suggests anythingHowever, the film gets increasingly odd as it goes along. A clone of the hero is introduced, and the plot shifts from a straight superhero story to one of a character corrupted by success. From here the film becomes increasingly surreal and inaccessible. In the end, it becomes more of a film for Kaufman completists than a film one would watch for enjoyment.
djensen1
I've seen a lot of bad movies: grindhouse junk, exploitation drek, inept and abortive attempts at comedy or porn or art. But this is one of the worst piles of dung I've ever looked at. A young and handsome Jon Voight is a country bumpkin who goes to the city, gets in trouble, and gets turned into a flying superhero whose troubles then compound.The soundtrack is mostly dissonant jazz and the voice of Word Jazz artist Ken Nordine, when it's not awful location sound. The action is meant to parody Superman and Frankenstein, but instead it's just a pointless, ugly mockery of them. I suppose the intention was to create something like Blazing Saddles, but effect is more like a high school play put on by the kids from detention.The dialog is inane. The comic gags are stupid. The acting is as broad as a Punch and Judy puppet show. And the direction is as clumsy as I've ever seen, with Kaufman framing scenes with urgent disregard for clarity and lighting and not bothering to redress actors to show the passage of time in a montage. It's not funny; it's not clever; it's not interesting; and it's not so bad it's good. The only explanation is that the cast and crew must have been inexperienced, stoned, and shooting as fast as possible. You couldn't make a POS like this on purpose.
boboloco
and it's deep if you want it to be. john voight is great in the dual role of frank and false frank. the writing/narration is funny too. i saw this on late night tv in the early 70's. i wish it would be released on dvd.
Edgar L. Davis
I loved the cartoonish aspect of the movie. Jon Voight was excellent and showed great comic flair. The movie Mystery Men reminds me of FF. I saw it as a kid and thought that it was coolest movie I had ever seen, but that was over 30 years ago. I would love to see it again.
AD
