In the laid-back comic caper Confess, Fletch, Jon Hamm plays I.M. Fletch, a dopey, retired investigative journalist wrongly accused of murder. It‘s Hamm’s best role since Don Draper, the flawed 60s ad agency hotshot in the critically acclaimed TV drama Mad Men.
Smoothly directed by Greg Mottola, Confess, Fletch is an easygoing adaptation of Gregory Mcdonald’s second Fletch novel. The first, Fletch, became a 1985 cult classic starring Chevy Chase at his most self-satisfied. It’s mediocre despite being beloved.
Hamm is relaxed and rakish as Fletch, a perfect accidental gumshoe. Smart, but not too smart. The twisty mystery involves a dead woman, stolen art, and an inheritance. A quirky cast joins Hamm’s character, including Marcia Gay Harden as a cartoonish Italian Countess and Roy Wood Jr. as a gruff cop. Silver fox John Slattery has a small part as a grizzled newspaper editor. So there’s a Mad Men reunion too.