Movies: Confess Fletch (staring Jon Hamm)

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

This is going to be an interesting one. The original Chevy Chase movie is beloved by many BUT it's only broadly representative of the Fletch character from the Gregory MacDonald novels. He's a wise-ass smartest-man-in-the-room type, which Chase got, but the character's not a goofy disguise, improvy, spouter of fake comedic names and whatnot, which is what Chase brought to the character. The on-screen Fletch is more Chevy Chase than it is the Fletch of the books.

This production by all accounts is hewing much closer to the books rather than trying to riff on Chevy Chase.

I'm a fan of the books and would argue this is a good thing! Writer-director Greg Mottola (Daytrippers, Superbad, Adventureland) seems like a good choice to helm this and Jon Hamm is pretty good casting to the Fletch of the books.

All that said I can't help but feel this movie is going to be DOA due to people knowing the movie more than the books. You'll have the mass of folks outraged that uncreative Hollywood is remaking/rebooting a "classic" (though there is an 11 book series many of which pre-date the movie) and then you'll have the folks who go in wanting/expecting zany afro wig costumes and Dr. Rosen Rosen and are inevitably going to be disappointed.

I think this movie is going to be good and entertaining -- but also completely rejected because it's not going to be what most people think.

We'll see.

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[NyQuil]

I always wanted Ryan Reynolds to play Fletch.

To be honest. I’ve read some of the books and the Chevy Chase version is better.

 

[kook10]

I am afraid you will be right. Fletch with less comedy just doesn't sound so appealing from the outset regardless of how good the books are. Plus I don't know if Jon Hamm has the comedy chops to pull it off even if it did. Chevy Chase had improvised many of the lines I still regularly quote to this day. Maybe they can drag Harold Faltermeyer back?

 

[NyQuil]

My brother and I still quote Fletch all the time.

Even the sequel had its moments.

“What are you in for?”

“Molesting a dead horse.”

“I’m not even sure that’s a crime anymore.”

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I always wanted Ryan Reynolds to play Fletch.

To be honest. I’ve read some of the books and the Chevy Chase version is better.

He would certainly be the most Chevy Chase-like choice.

The Chevy movie is fine. I don't like it as much as its biggest fans, but I laugh enough. Definitely one of the best uses of him and his persona.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I am afraid you will be right. Fletch with less comedy just doesn't sound so appealing from the outset regardless of how good the books are. Plus I don't know if Jon Hamm has the comedy chops to pull it off even if it did. Chevy Chase had improvised many of the lines I still regularly quote to this day. Maybe they can drag Harold Faltermeyer back?

Hamm's comedy chops are underrated. He's hilarious in Bridesmaids, 30 Rock and the Unbreakable Kimy Schmidt for example. Of course those characters are all kinda goofy dumbasses, which is a different vein of comedy from what I imagine will be going on here. If he can find a mid point between his Mad Men I'm-better-than-you-smarm and the overconfident moron he's played in some comedies, I think it works.

 

[kook10]

John Slattery is now part of the cast too. Now I am interested. They certainly had something great in Mad Men.

John Slattery Reteams with Jon Hamm for Miramax’s ‘Fletch’ Comedy Reboot – The Hollywood Reporter

 

[kook10]

Hmmmm.... I'll watch it eventually watch it, but not a very exciting or funny trailer.

 

[Neutrinos]

Hmmmm.... I'll watch it eventually watch it, but not a very exciting or funny trailer.

I bailed on the trailer at the 1:09 mark

Hamm just doesn't seem to have the doesn't-give-a-shit wiseass charm that made the Chase versions work

Jason Lee may have been a better way to go, or maybe Jason Sudeikis?

 

[Osprey]

I watched the first half hour, realized that I hadn't laughed yet and put on the original Fletch, which I'm currently enjoying a lot more. There's something about Hamm's Fletch that doesn't quite work for me. I think that Chevy Chase pulled off the wiseguy schtick because he added his own personality to the character that made him likable. Hamm doesn't contribute much personality, so the "smartest, funniest guy in the room" act is more off-putting than amusing to me.

Edit: I came back to it today and finished it. It was easy enough to watch, but the humor and plot still didn't do much for me. It felt like a pilot for a TV show that wasn't picked up.