Confess, Fletch (2022)

[Flack]

I can't say Fletch was the main reason I wanted to become a journalist, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally think about the character while I wrote all those hard-hitting articles for my college newspaper, articles about wait times when dialing the switchboard and rumors that the ag department was drinking on campus.

There there are somewhere around a dozen Fletch books, only two of them were made into movies -- Fletch (1985) and Fletch Lives (1989). Both films starred Chevy Chase, whose comedic timing and slightly condescending sense of humor carried over into the character. Despite multiple attempts to reboot the franchise (including a very public one by Kevin Smith which would have put View Askew regular Jason Lee into the role), the franchise has been dormant for more than 30 years.

In 2022's Confess, Fletch, the role of I. M. Fletcher has been passed down to Jon Hamm, because Chevy Chase is too old (78) to play the role and too crotchety to work with anyone else. Hamm does a good job of capturing the essence of Fletch without cheating by doing an impersonation of Chase (mostly). Director Greg Mottola has made a conscious decision to dress Hann in Fletch's traditional garb (sport jacket, tennis shoes, Lakers hat) to remind us that although the face has changed, the character is the same.

Each Fletch film (and book) are self-contained stories, so viewers don't need to have seen the earlier films (although you should) to follow the plot. Fletch is a now a freelance journalist who, within the film's first ten minutes, gets himself involved in a kidnapping, an art theft, and a murder. While a pair of Boston detectives finger Fletch early as their primary suspect, Fletch does what he does by going undercover with a series of fake names in order to untangle a convoluted series of stories, lies, and mysteries.

Much of the fun in any Fletch story are the characters he encounters in his journeys, and this film is no exception. When not dealing with the two officers constantly following him, Fletch deals with art dealers, his sexy client, her mother (the Countess!), the hippy neighbor, and many more characters. Fletch deals with each one by using fake names and false backstories, which of course backfires when they characters eventually cross paths.

It's understandable why Kevin Smith would be interested producing his own Fletch film. They're dialog heavy, anchored on Fletch's verbal volleys with pretty much everyone he encounters. The jokes come at multiple speeds and levels and the mystery has so many twists and turns that it takes close attention to follow, but at the end of the day this is a Fletch film... just with a new Fletch.

[Tdarcos]

I can't say Fletch was the main reason I wanted to become a journalist... I wrote all those hard-hitting articles for my college newspaper, articles about... rumors that the ag department was drinking on campus.

The entire department? Yeah, rumors that the entire staff of the ag department are drinking on campus would be a big story. Much bigger than if it was just "the dean of the ag department is drinking on campus,"

I can imagine The Onion carrying a story, "Governor of Texas caught drinking during working hours" Today, Texas Governor Greg Abbott was seen stopping at a bar at noon, and consuming a drink, rumored to be whiskey, before re-entering his chauffeur-driven limousine.
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[Casual Observer]

Thanks for this Flack. I never had any idea that Fletch was more than just two amazing Chevy Chase films. Not sure I can separate Fletch from Chevy but I'll give it a try.