'Confess, Fletch' Trailer: We Waited 30 Years for This?

By Dustin Rowles | Film | August 25, 2022 |

By Dustin Rowles | Film | August 25, 2022 |

Whatever else you want to say about Chevy Chase — so many things! — you have to admit that Fletch was pretty great, if you’re old enough to remember Fletch and its 1989 sequel, Fletch Lives.

Folks have been trying to revive the franchise for 30 years, dating back to Kevin Smith, who endeavored to make another sequel with Chase, Fletch Won. That eventually fell apart because Smith and Chase couldn’t get it together because Chevy Chase is Chevy Chase. Determined not to give up, Kevin Smith tried again eyeing regulars, Jason Lee or Ben Affleck, for the lead role.

That never materialized, either, but over the next two decades, several other directors and actors came aboard, including Bill Lawrence (Scrubs) and Steve Pink (Grosse Point Blank) in the director’s chair, while the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Zach Braff, and Jason Sudeikis were attached as the lead.

Obviously, none of those ever happened (and what a shame that is). In 2020, the project finally came together with Jon Hamm, and Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland) in the director’s chair. I like Hamm very much. I like Mottola’s work very much. This trailer, however, looks like a bust, which may be why it’s going straight to digital (with a token theater release) on September 16th.

I”ll definitely give it a shot, but it looks … sad. Hamm is a lot of things, but Fletch he ain’t.