Confess, Fletch is in theaters and on digital and on demand on Friday September 16th.
Admittedly, Fletch highlights not only Jon Hamm’s playful cheerfulness, but also the captivating lightness of Gregory McDonald’s Fletch crime novels. It’s a mid-stakes caper and lots of laughs that gives us a clever crime-solver that’s sort of an anti-Hercule Poirot. Investigative Journalist – or in the case of Confess, Fletch, retired investigative journalist – Irwin M. “Fletch” Fletcher doesn’t always have all the answers…or even one of them. But Fletch stories are a great mix of proactive snooping and randomness, which suits a sarcastic character like Fletch.
Directed by Superbad’s Greg Mottola, Confess, Fletch (the second McDonald’s Fletch novel) finds our clever, genius hero en route from Italy to the States, where he’s been tasked with tracking down his girlfriend’s family’s stolen art collection. When he arrives at his rented townhouse in Boston, a body awaits him and a body of evidence pointing to him as the killer. Mottola, who has worked with Hamm on previous films, is perfect at highlighting the light comedy here as well as Fletch’s charm (which could easily come off as smarm in the wrong hands).
You don’t have to be a fan of Chevy Chase’s 1985 Fletch film (which was based on the first Fletch mystery), although understandably this particular story is a better introduction to Fletch and what it is about. Again, this film blended Fletch with Chase’s particular comedic style, which fortunately has some similarities, while also portraying Fletch as someone who enjoys wearing elaborate disguises and using silly false names when delving into a scandal or case. The roots of this are true, as Fletch often lies and/or poses as someone else to get through doors or talk to people who otherwise don’t want to talk, and confess Fletch wraps that element up a bit more, with that it doesn’t feel fancy or out of step.
The film is also very good with its cast allowing Hamm to shine as Fletch while at the same time surrounding him with characters who don’t feel shallow, or like stock cops or suspects. Roy Wood Jr. and Ayden Mayeri are extremely likable cops who are now willy-nilly in Fletch’s orbit, often pretending to be immune to his antics and insights. Lorenza Izzo and Marcia Gay Harden are also boons to the film, as Fletch’s girlfriend and her extravagant “Countess” stepmother, respectively. There’s also Kyle MacLachlan, Bridesmaids co-writer Annie Mumolo and – oh yeah! -John Slattery.
This isn’t the first time since Mad Men (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day at Camp) that Slattery and Hamm have been involved in the same project, and it won’t be the last (the upcoming Maggie Moores), but it is Best use of her Mad Men banter style and acting dynamic. And if you’re familiar with either of the ’80s Fletch movies, the cast of Slattery as Frank, Fletch’s former LA newspaper editor, feels more inspired because that, too, brings a built-in saltiness. It’s just one more thing that makes Confess, Fletch seem like kismet after decades of others (Kevin Smith, Bill Lawrence) trying to make a new Fletch movie.
Confess, Fletch has finally done what many have tried to do since 1989’s Fletch Lives, which is to bring the specific tenor of McDonald’s prose to the big screen. Any attempt at a fletch reboot was made to “better match the books”. Admit Fletch is doing his best to introduce Fletch to a new generation, for a new era, but his greatest admirers may still be those who fell in love with the novels (or the Chase film) decades ago. Admit it, Fletch isn’t a neatly connected mystery, nor one where the protagonist can discover the truth through a maze of twists and turns, but it’s a great encapsulation of why Fletch is an addictive rascal. Sometimes he’s two steps behind, sometimes three steps behind, but he’s always entertaining.
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