April 14, 2024

Confess, Fletch

I am personally pleased that this reboot of the Fletch franchise is utterly faithful to the spirit of the Gregory McDonald novels. It's just too bad that the movie was released during lockdown and nobody noticed. I'm also pleased that Jon Hamm has decided that this is the kind of project he wants to produce and star in! I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it felt a little short at 98 minutes long. I guess I'm used to having one more wrinkle, or one more antagonist to stir up the plot. Despite investigating an art theft and a murder simultaneously, Confess, Fletch moves economically to its conclusion. One thing which felt missing, which might have made it more fun, was any kind of action? More punching or chasing, more kicking? Something like that. Fletch doesn't carry a gun or use violence to solve problems, but wisecracks and funny reaction faces only thrill me so much. On the other hand, the movie captures the vibe of the books perfectly - Fletch at the center of several independent storylines that he keeps spinning like plates in the air.

Like Wicked Little Letters on Friday night, Confess, Fletch also does progress a favor by replacing the white Boston Police detective Flynn with Roy Wood Jr, as "Slo-Mo" Monroe, the deadpan homicide inspector who is famous for taking forever to arrest his suspects, and another non-white actor, indeed a woman, Ayden Mayeri, as Monroe's partner Griz, another role that would've gone to a white guy by default in most movies 20 years ago. 

The novel is set in Boston. I haven't read it in a long time, but it's possible the movie is even more Boston-centric than the book: key scenes have been moved to a yacht club in Gloucester, and the scenes set in the South End and Back Bay look perfect. They even got the heavy, rattling double set of glass doors entering the brownstone just right. Chevy Chase's Fletch was a Lakers fan (I don't recall that detail from the books) and they use his fandom to great effect in a Boston movie. Casting native Bostonian (and Mad Men pal) John Slattery as Fletch's old editor, Frank Jaffe, now working at a Boston paper was a nice touch.

One final note: this is the second movie I've seen recently (after Dumb Money) to be set during or after COVID lockdowns, without being about COVID. Jaffe laments that his Millenial coworkers all work remotely now, "the big babies". Paramount Plus