Confess, Fletch (2022)

Directed by Greg Mottola. Starring Jon Hamm, Roy Wood Jr., Ayden Mayeri, Lorenza Izzo, Kyle MacLachlan, Marcia Gay Harden, Annie Mumolo, Lucy Punch, John Behlmann, Kenneth Kimmins, Robert Picardo. [R]

Gregory Mcdonald’s second Irwin M. “Fletch” Fletcher novel becomes the third feature film bearing his name, the first such outing in over thirty years. Hamm takes over in the lead role, and actually seems to be playing the ex-investigative journalist character instead of absorbing the character into his own personality/style the way Chevy Chase did before him. He reminds us of his flair for comedy with a flippant yet deadpan demeanor, quick with a wisecrack, but rarely at someone else’s expense, and he eases into a mystery incorporating murder, kidnapping, and the theft of valuable artwork without breaking a sweat. Fletch shines brightest dealing with the serious folk (a pair of police detectives played by Wood and Mayeri, MacLachlan’s germaphobic art dealer, etc.), but is off-balance among the wackier types, including Harden’s strained “countess” caricature. The pic moves at a breezy clip and offers a satisfactory number of wry chuckles, but few big laughs in the midst of a not-terribly-interesting mystery to solve. Modern society/tech references in a story originally penned in the 1970s can’t help but stand out awkwardly, but at least they’re infrequent. Hamm’s old “Mad Men” co-star, John Slattery, makes a cameo appearance.

67/100