Editing Drop Dead Fred (section)

==Reception==

===Box office===
{{Anchor|Release}}
The film, produced on a budget of just under $6.8&nbsp;million, was released theatrically in the United States and Canada on May 24, 1991, grossing $3,625,648 on its opening weekend, and $13,878,334 over its entire theatrical run.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dropdeadfred.htm |title= Drop Dead Fred (1991) |work= [[Box Office Mojo]] |date= 1991-07-02 |access-date= 2014-06-10 |archive-date= 2014-07-14 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140714213125/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dropdeadfred.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> It grossed £1,794,121 in the UK and $24 million worldwide.<ref name="org"/><ref name=ww/>

===Critical response===
{{RT data|prose|Tackling mature themes with an infantile sensibility, ''Drop Dead Fred'' is an ill-conceived family comedy that is more likely to stir up a headache than the imagination.|ref=yes}} {{Metacritic film prose|25|19|ref=yes|access-date=2025-04-04}}

[[Gene Siskel]] gave the film zero stars and said "This is easily one of the worst films I've ever seen."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/05/24/backdraft-a-spectacle-graced-by-fine-acting/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720065057/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-05-24/entertainment/9102160488_1_backdraft-drop-dead-fred-firemen|archive-date=20 July 2014 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |title='Backdraft': A Spectacle Graced by Fine Acting |date=24 May 1991 |first=Gene |last=Siskel |author-link=Gene Siskel |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 July 2020}}</ref> Film critic Johanna Steinmetz suggested that its premise was inspired by children with [[imaginary friend]]s who later develop [[dissociative identity disorder]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Steinmetz |first=Johanna |title=Pop psych can't bring 'Dead Fred' to life |work=[[The Chicago Tribune]] |date=24 May 1991 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-05-24-9102160453-story.html |access-date=12 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312165353/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-05-24-9102160453-story.html |archive-date=12 March 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Peter Freedman of the ''[[Radio Times]]'' called it a "largely uninteresting and unfunny comedy", adding, "It's a nice idea, but it falls between all available stools and ends up as a mess on the floor thanks to the poor execution. It's particularly irritating if you've seen the much better ''[[Harvey (1950 film)|Harvey]]''."<ref name="radiotimes">{{cite web |year=1991 |first= Peter |last=Freedman |title=Drop Dead Fred – review |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/film/k9t2m/drop-dead-fred/ |website=Radio Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604055756/https://www.radiotimes.com/film/k9t2m/drop-dead-fred/ |archive-date=June 4, 2016}}</ref> Angie Errigo of ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine wrote, "There is scarcely a laugh to be had unless you are six years old or immoderately fond of such wheezes as depositing dog poop on a white carpet."<ref>{{cite web |date= 1 January 2000 |first= Angie |last= Errigo |title= Drop Dead Fred |url= https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/drop-dead-fred-review/ |website= [[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |access-date= 19 August 2019 |archive-date= 19 August 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190819013530/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/drop-dead-fred-review/ |url-status= live }}</ref>

Retrospective reviews continued to pan the film for being anything but funny. In a 2002 review published by ''astralresearch.org'', composer [[Carl Schroeder (composer)|Carl Schroeder]] saw no humour in the comedy, writing that the lead character's "psychic crisis is poignantly realistic...the creature who is visible only to the woman is like a poltergeist energy of her repressed self, a problematic ego container into which her powers of assertion and creativity were poured and stored."<ref>{{cite web |first=Carl |last=Schroeder |author-link= Carl Schroeder (composer) |title=Review of ''Drop Dead Fred'' |website=astralresearch.org |date=2002-09-28 |url=http://www.astralresearch.org/mysticalmovieguide/mmlist.pl?exact=Drop%20Dead%20Fred&year=1991&index=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021216151606/http://www.astralresearch.org/mysticalmovieguide/mmlist.pl?exact=Drop%20Dead%20Fred&year=1991&index=1 |archive-date=2002-12-16}}</ref> Writing for ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' in 2009, Margaret Lyons asked, "Is it supposed to be hilarious, or a really, really depressing story about the long-term effects of emotional abuse?"<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Margaret |last=Lyons |title='Drop Dead Fred' remake: Let's not flick boogers at it just yet |url=https://ew.com/article/2009/04/28/drop-dead-fred-3/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=April 28, 2009}}</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] stated, "Phoebe Cates' appealing performance can't salvage this putrid mess...recommended only for people who think nose-picking is funny."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Maltin|first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Maltin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPMxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA390|title=Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide: The Modern Era (Previously Published as Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide)|year=2017|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-525-53631-4|page=390|language=en|access-date=2023-05-17|archive-date=2023-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517225440/https://books.google.com/books?id=iPMxDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA390|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite being a critical failure, the film has gained some status as a [[cult film]], though still noted for being "rife with hypocrisy".<ref name="denofgeek" /><ref>{{cite web |first=Loryn |last=Stone |title=Drop Dead Fred – The Cult Classic Rife with Hypocrisy |website=poplurker.com |date=16 December 2017 |url=https://poplurker.com/2017/12/16/drop-dead-fred-the-cult-classic-rife-with-hypocrisy/ |access-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819012214/https://poplurker.com/2017/12/16/drop-dead-fred-the-cult-classic-rife-with-hypocrisy/ |archive-date= 19 August 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Writing for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2021, [[Alexander Larman]] praised the film, calling it "a sophisticated and ahead-of-its-time black comic exploration of anxiety and depression."<ref name=Larman>{{cite news |first=Alexander |last=Larman |title=Rik Mayall's mental health misadventure: how Drop Dead Fred repelled America |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=15 May 2021 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/rik-mayalls-mental-health-misadventure-drop-dead-fred-repelled/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216170714/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/rik-mayalls-mental-health-misadventure-drop-dead-fred-repelled/ |archive-date=16 December 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>