Of all the weirdly large number of movies that released this weekend, I did not expect to see Confess, Fletch first. Heck, I didn’t even know this movie existed until I pulled up the theater app. And I’m not mad… the original adaptation of the books (which I haven’t read) with Chevy Chase was great (less so the sequel, Fletch Lives). They cast John Hamm in the role which doesn’t seem too far off-base so that was a plus.

Fletch is a former investigative journalist, loves the Lakers, and cracks wise every chance he gets. In Confess, Fletch, a mysterious person is murdered in Fletch’s building, the police suspect him, and there’s a mystery involving an Italian countess and stolen art.

But mainly it’s an excuse for solving a mystery and dry, witty wise ass comments. It’s a little shaggy, a little hang-out, a little just watching Hamm puzzle things out and crack wise. And, yeah, I got a little lost in the PI stuff but was able to laugh pretty consistently at the jokes. Hamm isn’t as good with the dry quips as Chase was, but short of getting Ryan Reynolds to play Ryan Reynolds playing Fletch, it’s a pretty good choice.

It’s amusing, the mystery seems pretty puzzly, there were some fun side characters for Fletch to pester (especially the rookie cop) and then it was over. I enjoyed my time in the theater.

Score: 82