Once Fred arrives he proceeds to ruin her life and enhances the already tense atmosphere with her mother. Once the box is opened, who knows what will come tumbling out? It’s scary to take the first step, but she’s removed the masking tape, and there’s no turning back. The box (which is essentially Pandora’s Box) is symbolic of her childhood (it looks like it’s been dragged through the dirt), and the removal of the tape was a ritual unlocking of repressed memories, such as abuse and her parents’ divorce. She rips the tape and a glowing green ball springs forth and rolls under the bed, it’s pretty scary. Later that night, in a scene that plays more like horror than comedy, the box starts playing by itself like a demonic force waking Elizabeth up. She finds an old jack-in-a-box, fastened with tape and cries herself to sleep. Elizabeth assumes this role immediately, and stomps upstairs with hunched shoulders to her old room. The dynamics are off from the start, as we watch a grown woman turn into a downtrodden child as her mother strong-arms her out of her marital house, and back into the abusive fold. It also highlights that she has repressed memories, which allude to a deeper, darker pain.įred’s return into Elizabeth’s adult life starts when she moves home and back into the control of her mother. The opening scenes establish that Drop Dead Fred was there to serve a purpose: help Elizabeth cope with traumatic events of childhood through fun and mischief. She recalls shaving Mickey’s cat and throwing yellow paint over his grandmother, and the floodgates open. Mickey reminds Elizabeth of Drop Dead Fred and the antics they got up to while her parents were undergoing a messy divorce. In the opening scenes, she bumps into her childhood friend Mickey Bunce (Ron Eldard), who admits: “We were all a little afraid of your mother”. The film makes no secret of Elizabeth having a bad childhood. The manifestation of a destructive imaginary friend points to Elizabeth Cronin going “absolutely insane” – in short, she is having a mental breakdown, Fred isn’t really there, he never was. These are all pretty serious life changing events, and them happening at once are likely to send someone a little overboard. On one such trip her purse and car are stolen causing Elizabeth to be fired, and forced to move back in with her emotionally abusive mother (Marsha Mason). Like a love sick puppy, she spends her lunch hours begging for Charles back. On the first night in her childhood room, she awakens her old imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall) and her life is turned upside down.Īfter catching her husband Charles having sex with another woman on their sofa, Elizabeth’s’ marriage comes to an end. Ate de Jong’s iconic Drop Dead Fred (1991) portrays the hilarity that can ensue when your imaginary friend returns, but does Fred represent something more sinister?ĭrop Dead Fred (1991) follows the life of Elizabeth Cronin (Phoebe Cates) who catches her husband in the act, and has to move in with her mother (Marsha Mason).
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