Based on the book by Gregory McDonald, Confess, Fletch will be available in theaters and on digital starting Friday, September 16. The comedy film follows Fletch as he simultaneously attempts to prove his innocence in a murder case, while helping his girlfriend track down a stolen art collection.
The cast includes Jon Hamm, Roy Wood Jr., Annie Mumolo, Ayden Mayeri, Lorenza Izzo, Kyle MacLachlan, and Marcia Gay Harden.
Screen Rant chats with star Jon Hamm and director Greg Mottola about adapting Gregory McDonald's 1970s novel for a modern audience.
Screen Rant: Jon, what was your initial reaction to Fletch? Either in the book or the movie. He's a very interesting character.
Jon Hamm: I went and saw the original Fletch with my friend, Chris Grady, I think we were 13 years old, in St. Louis, Missouri. And I immediately thought it was so funny, and then I found out that it was based on a book, and I was like, "Oh, it's based on a book, I want to read that book." And then I found out, not only was it based on a book, but they were a series of books, which was like, "Whoa, this is very exciting." And they weren't kid books. They were adult books. And so I went, "Okay, this is awesome. I don't have any money. So I have to shoplift to get these books in my possession," which I did. So again, sorry to the Waldenbooks in Florissant, Missouri.
Greg Mottola: What's the statute of limitations?
Jon Hamm: Exactly. It's gotta be expired by now. But I was fascinated by, even at that age, how different the movie was from the books. And I thought, "Oh, the movies can just do that. They can just be their own thing," and realize that Chevy's a unique talent. He brought all of his skill set, his tremendous physical abilities, and his particularly different sense of humor to that thing, and that was great. And then they made a sequel to it, and it was trying to do the same thing and capture the same energy, and it wasn't quite as good as the first one.
But it was what it was. And then 30 years past, and you think, "Oh, wow. What's going on with that? Is there anything that's happening with that?" and then they were like, "Hey, we have the options to the rest of these books." And I thought, "Oh, I can make my own version of it, like Chevy made his own version of it. And I got my friend, Greg Mottola, very excited about the project, and we got to make our own version of this series of books and this character that we both really like, and hopefully, we'll get to do it again.
Screen Rant: This is a book that was written in the 70s. How did you want to modernize this adaptation of it?
Jon Hamm: Well, part of it was, "Do we make the decision creatively to set this in the 70s?" And there are a lot of story points that if you set something in the 70s...there's no cell phones, there's no GPS. A lot of the things that make our lives more convenient, make telling a story a lot harder, because you could just, "Look it up on your phone, idiot." Or call them immediately, because we're all interconnected.
So you have to kind of write to what it is. But we thought, because we're updating the story, we might as well update. We might as well set it in the current day. The book that we based it on, Confess, Fletch, has kind of baked in and built in a little time off for Fletch. So it makes sense that he's been away from the game for a while. He's retired, he's living in Italy, he's writing about art, and then he gets pulled back into this mystery that he has to then solve. So it wasn't without its challenges, but it was a pretty easy decision to make it current.
Greg Mottola: Yeah, and the book has a certain amount of social commentary about the 70s, and the sexual revolution and things that were going on then that aren't necessarily relatable—mores have changed. So I poke a little bit of fun at things like influencers and sort of tone-deaf white privilege and things like that.
Screen Rant: Greg, you've also mentioned wanting to capture the tone of the original book. Was there anything specific that was important for you to carry over into this adaptation?
Greg Mottola: Well, I love the character. I mean—how would I put it? He...
Jon Hamm: Marches to his own beat.
Greg Mottola: Yes. He does it in a weird way, but I really think he's on the side of right. He just doesn't really respect authority and doesn't think the usual channels are going to work. He's not going to wait for things—for the police to do it. He's not going to wait for the legal system to do it. So he just starts scamming and lying and breaking a few small laws to get to the bottom of things. He wants things to be better. He wants the bad guy to get caught, but he doesn't wait around for anyone to tell him how to do it.
And if he's wrong, which he is now and then, he just moves on and keeps trying. And I just thought, "This is a really fascinating psychology and I love this guy." And I also know Jon is just so great at playing someone who has such ease in the world, and doesn't mind being foolish. And the idea of putting Jon at the center of a comedy was great in my mind. And the book is also inspired by classic detective novels like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. And it was his version of a detective character except he's an investigative journalist. And I love those movies. I love those books. So I wanted to capture that quality from the novel.
About Confess Fletch
While investigating a case of valuable stolen paintings, the roguishly charming and endlessly troublesome Fletch becomes the prime suspect in a murder. To prove his innocence, he must sift through a long list of suspects -- from an art dealer to a missing playboy to a crazy neighbor to his own girlfriend.
Check out our other interviews for Confess, Fletch as well:
Confess, Fletch will arrive in theaters and on digital September 16, followed by a Showtime premiere on October 28.
