Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch

The roguishly charming and endlessly troublesome Fletch becomes the prime suspect in a murder case while searching for a stolen art collection. The only way to prove his innocence? Find out which of the long list of suspects is the culprit - from the eccentric art dealer and a missing playboy to a crazy neighbor and Fletch’s Italian girlfriend. Crime, in fact, has never been this disorganized.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
  • Stars: Jon Hamm, David Torres Jr., Roy Wood Jr., Annie Mumolo, Ayden Mayeri, Lorenza Izzo, Kyle MacLachlan, Marcia Gay Harden, John Slattery, Lucy Punch, John Behlmann, Caitlin Zerra Rose, Aaron Andrade, Travis Bennett, Nhumi Threadgill, Anna Osceola, Gene Amoroso, Alli Dowling, Omar Ghonim, Owen Burke, Bates Wilder, Erica McDermott, Eugene Mirman, Kenneth Kimmins, Shawn Fitzgibbon, Daniel Baek, Thomas Ciarametaro, Levon Panek, Eli Neslund, Wendy Bellevue, Robert Picardo, Marina Re
  • Director: Greg Mottola
 Comments
  • ma-cortes - 5 May 2024
    John Hamm stars in this mystery-laden comedy with messes, thrills, and plot twists.
    An unequal mix of comedy and intrigue in which John Hamm plays the chaotic, troubled, yet charming investigative journalist Fletch. Although Fletch says he quit journalism because the profession has been cheapened by social media. Including decent performances, emotion, wry humor and some very quirky dialogue. Irwin Maurice "Fletch" Fletcher (Jon Hamm) is apparently sent to Boston from Italy by his girlfriend Angela (Lorenza Izzo) to recover her father's multi-million-dollar art collection. The paintings were stolen and are in the possession of an American art dealer named Ronald Horan (Kyle MacLachlan). After becoming the prime suspect in a murder, Fletch strives to prove his innocence while simultaneously searching for his girlfriend's stolen art collection. There are several suspicious people and something's rottern in Denmark. Throughout the entire film Fletch assumes a multitude of flippant comic situations to discover the truth. A dead body. A stolen Picasso. And this guy.

    A mix of black comedy, murders, robbery, laughs and some very extravagant and excessive dialogues. An uneven mix of laughter and suspense and not without its boring bits. Starring Jon Hamm (Don Draper in ¨Mad Men¨, ¨Beirut¨, ¨Top Gun: Maverick¨) gives a sympathetic acting by playing Fletch who becomes involved in a murder and must use his disguise skills to solve it before he becomes the next victim. The film is an updated version of comedian Chavy Chase's 1980s comedy films: ¨Fletch¨ 1985 by Michael Ritchie and ¨Fletch lives¨ 1989 by Ritchie, based on the novels by Gregory McDonald.

    This film full of humor, thrills and a set of crazy characters: swindlers, unfaithful husbands, nosy neighbors, crazy countess, among others. John Hamm is well acco, mpanied by a good cast, such as: Lorenza Izzo, Kyle MacLachlan, John Slattery, Marcia Gay Arden, Roy Wood Jr., Ayden Mayeri and Robert Picardo. ActorJohn Slattery and Jon Hamm used to be in "Mad Men" playing respectively Roger Sterling and Don Draper, both senior partners in the advertising company the series was about.

    The film is enhanced by brilliant camera work, augmented by bright, colorful cinematography by Sam Levy. In addition to a lively and pleasant musical score by David Arnold. This fun and entertaining film was unevenly directed Greg Mottola. This good director told:¨I really didn't want the tone of Chevy Chase films. So I did the next pass on the script and brought it closer to the book and brought in more characters from the book and more plot from the book. Still setting it in contemporary times, so a lot of things had to be the modern equivalent to what was a '70s-vibe character or a bit of social satire from the novel¨. Gregg Motola is a fine craftsman who has directed various films and TV episodes, such as: Superbad, Adventureland, Undeclarated, Newsroom, The Daytrippers, Keeping Up with the Joneses, Paul, Dave, Arrested Development , Comeback, Cracking up, among others. Rating: 5.5/10. Acceptable and passable.
  • gridoon2024 - 19 August 2023
    OK time-passer
    "Confess, Fletch" is a half-hearted attempt to revive Fletch's character after more than three decades of cinematic dormancy. It is a comedy-mystery where the comedy does not produce many laughs, and the mystery plot is just about functional. Jon Hamm seems miscast in the role of Fletch, but he is surrounded by a good supporting cast; a standout is Ayden Mayeri who gives an understated, cute performance as a clumsy-yet-bright rookie police officer. The film might also have been served better by staying in Rome, where a few scenes are set at the start; Boston, in comparison, seems rather drab (no offence meant, I think even most Bostonians would agree). ** out of 4.
  • rebecca-887-493032 - 13 April 2023
    This movie gets Boston right!
    Most movies give lip service to being in Boston with a few outside scenes, a styrofoam Dunkin cup and fake Kennedy accents, but this movie gets the details right. There's a great visual gag in the Tip O'Neill Tunnel. The script name drops the Warren Tavern, Caldor's and J. Giles. The locations were spot on - the murder took place in a South End condo referenced as Union Sq. And later they had an outside scene in Union Sq. Although I think they disguised the Worcester Police HQ to stand in for the Boston PD! Extra credit for how the movie handles the Celtics/Lakers rivalry.

    As for the plot, I read the Fletch novels in the eighties and saw Chevy Chase's Fletch movies. This movie was an good adaptation. John Hamm played the dry humor of the novel without the goofball physicality. I watched it with headphones on a plane and my seat-mates heard me laughing out loud.

    The major update was the police detective. In the novel, Det. Flynn was the stereotype of a Boston Irish cop. I'm glad the movie did not fall into that trap by creating Inspector Monroe. The script also improved the female roles compared to the book. Eliminating gratuitous sex with Fletch with one character and making another less venal.

    I gave it 10 stars because it is good entertainment. I have no illusions about it being high art - but viewers like me need movies like this.
  • katharineshowalter - 4 December 2022
    A Great (TV) Movie!
    The thing about the Gregory Mcdonald books is that, as they go on, Fletch's motivations get murkier and murkier. He goes from being a crusading journalist to pretty much a garden variety wiseass who ends up getting over on everyone. The Chevy Chase films were fine, the first much better than the second, but it was Chase's brand of snark that not only brought the smartass character to life, but also gave him a self-righteous, do-right quality, making him more three-dimensional. That's gone here, and we just have a perfectly fine, perfectly charming Jon Hamm solving stuff and being a catalyst because that's what characters in movies do. But, as I noted, this was pretty much what Fletch became in the books. Still, this is an amusing and satisfactory film. It's witty (if far from laugh-a-minute), it makes sense, and thank god there are no superheroes or obvious CGI. It's got a lot of TV actors, so it ends up feeling cheap, like a very good Movie of the Week.

    And it's too bad they dropped the great character of Inspector Flynn from the novels in favor of a generically quirky cop. But that would have been two white males leads and the need for double the white privilege lampshading. Two non-Italian actors plays Italians (Picardo may be of Italian descent, but he's a long way from Salerno, as is his accent). Has anybody contacted John Leguizamo to see what he has to say about this?
  • tlm-90086 - 18 November 2022
    Meh
    Sadly, and surprisingly, mediocre film. All sorts of plot gaps, weak character development, thin plotting, etc. Seems like the folks in charge couldn't decide if they were aiming for a comedy, a thriller, or a mystery and instead ended up with none of the above.

    The plotline is so muddled it's hard to know who was responsible for what.

    My wife and I "enjoyed" it, because who doesn't like Jon Hamm, but we couldn't recommend it to anyone else. And even Hamm is largely wasted in this role, with his ironic/humorous sense of self completely lost in the mix. It could have been a wonderful movie, a tentpole for a franchise, but instead was just a waste. They end with a set-up for a sequel and we can only hope it's better.
  • tkdlifemagazine - 7 November 2022
    Jon Hamm is Fletch
    I have to go on the record I thought this remake was a terrible idea. Chevy Chase embodies the character and while Hamm is a better actor I found the idea silly. I was wrong. This is very good. It's funny and engaging and.appropriately, stupid. Hamm balances doing a Chevy Chase impression with moving the character into one that he owns and is believably his. This character is based on a series of popular quasi detective novels and everything about this honors the prior films but improves on them in many ways. Great cast. Well filmed and Directed. The settings of Italy and Boston are great. I hope there are more To come in this series.