No one puts Lizzie in the corner.Īt the time of her next memory, Elizabeth is an adult and has been locked in her room by her mother after returning home from seeing a child psychologist to discuss Fred. For an imaginary friend, he sure did get the assignment. The next morning, she wakes to find her mother vigorously scrubbing the excrement from the carpet. The very first “game” he plays involves using dog waste to destroy the carpet. This is when her imaginary friend makes his return to discover that Lizzie has grown up. Is it possible that she is battling a form of arrested psychological development, meaning she remains stuck at the time of her childhood trauma?Īfter her husband’s infidelity, Elizabeth moves back into her mother’s home, where she’s treated like a child and banned from the living room carpet. The verbal and emotional abuse Elizabeth suffers at the hands of her mother has likely stunted her growth into adulthood. Mental health is an overarching topic in the film, and it’s easy to spot the tells if you’re paying close attention. If my friendships don’t work like this I don’t want them! While in hiding, Lizzie sadly recounts the time when her mother told her she never does anything right, to which Fred replies by encouraging her to love herself. When things go south, Fred smashes a window for the two to escape through, exclaiming how much he loves the breaking noises. Fred wakes her in the middle of the night to play a destructive game of pretend robbers. Considering the deep dive this movie journeys, a basic plot explanation simply isn’t giving what it needs to give, so let’s try another route.Įlizabeth’s struggles first take shape at age five, when she is forced to create Fred as a defense mechanism against her mother’s abuse.ĭuring one of many flashbacks, we get a look at young Lizzie’s relationship with her imaginary friend. Through Fred’s special brand of encouragement, she finds the courage to dump her cheating husband Charles (Tim Matheson) and part ways with her abusive mother (Marsha Mason). His obnoxious antics consistently embarrass Elizabeth until she remembers his importance to her childhood. Why did this movie initially fail to land well with its viewers? Is it possible that Siskel and everyone else could have overlooked the importance of mental health and protecting your peace, along with the quiet reveal about Fred’s true identity when so harshly rating the cult classic?įred (Rik Mayall) is an imaginary friend from the past to a twenty-something Elizabeth Cronin (Phoebe Cates) who has recently suffered a series of life-shattering events. I think we can all agree that not everything is for everyone, but to unleash such a strong response when questioned about an artistic rendering implies more than just an issue of preference. What did he know anyway? He was only one half of a powerhouse movie critiquing duo that had been actively giving expert reviews for 30 years. “ This is easily one of the worst films I’ve ever seen,” said Gene Siskel of Drop Dead Fred back when it was released in 1991.
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