"Confess Fletch" Movie Review (SPOILERS)

EPISODE 32: Confess Fletch Movie Recap & Review.

SPOILER ALERT: Laker Jim & the FletchCast crew break down the new "Confess, Fletch" movie with a spoiler filled review of the  Jon Hamm/Greg Mottola approach to the 2022 version of Irwin M. Fletcher fresh from the pages of the 1978  Gregory McDonald novel.

CONFESS FLETCH OFFICIAL TRAILER:
https://youtu.be/pb2Pu5EjC1s
(watch along with our analysis)


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FletchCast is Your Ultimate source for everything Fletch: the books, the movies, & the latest news about our favorite journalistic reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher... making sure Fletch Lives forever!

Host: James "Laker Jim" Kanowitz (@webguy911)
Co-Host: Jake Parrish (@jakelparrish)
Co-Host: Bob West


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P.S. Have a nice day. 

Fletch  & Fletch Lives are Copyright 1985, 1989 Universal Studios and distributed by MCA/Universal Pictures.  The Fletch Soundtrack is Copyright MCA Records. Confess, Fletch is Copyright of Miramax with Paramount distribution. All images and sounds are the intellectual property of Universal Studios, Miramax, and Paramount. They are used only with the intent of public appreciation of our favorite film and publicity for its place among the great comedies of our time. We imply no rights to the characters or intellectual property created by Gregory McDonald, Universal or Miramax and is used for educational purposes only. 

FletchCast is Your Ultimate source for everything Fletch: the books, the movies, & the latest news about our favorite journalistic reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher.

... making sure Fletch Lives forever!

Host: James "Laker Jim" Kanowitz (@webguy911)
Co-Host: Jake Parrish (@jakelparrish)
Co-Host: Robert "Big Bob" West


Follow Us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imfletchcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imfletchcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/imfletchcast


P.S. Have a nice day. 

Fletch  & Fletch Lives are Copyright 1985, 1989 Universal Studios and distributed by MCA/Universal Pictures.  The Fletch Soundtrack is Copyright MCA Records. Confess, Fletch is Copyright of Miramax with Paramount distribution. All images and sounds are the intellectual property of Universal Studios. They are used only with the intent of public appreciation of a great film and possible publicity for its place among the great comedies of our time. We imply no rights to the characters or intellectual property created by Gregory McDonald, Universal or Miramax and is used for educational purposes only. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Brings you the back, baby.

SPEAKER_06 0:03

You know, I just love listening to podcasts in my car.

FletchCast Intro 0:09

Podcasting. And around the world. The only podcast. It's all very ultimate source for everything. And it's working to make sure flight. Forever. Forever. They don't shower much. This is Fletchcast.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 0:49

Thank you, Sammy, and welcome everybody to Fletchcast. Now, we gave everybody more than enough time to see the new Confessed Clutch. So just a warning at the top, there are gonna be plenty of spoilers in this episode. So if you have not seen the movie yet, go out and see it, then come back and listen to this podcast because we are going to dive deep into Confessed Clutch. We're gonna let you know everything we love, everything we hated, and all the gray area in between.

SPEAKER_06 1:18

How gray?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 1:21

But before we get started, let me introduce my co-host, two men who will never be brainwashed by the shoe lobby. Take Kim Big Bob.

SPEAKER_07 1:29

I love that one.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 1:30

Boys, welcome. How many times have you guys seen Confess Fletch?

"Big Bob" West 1:34

I've only seen it three times. And they were all at home. We're supposed to get our first major hurricane of the year.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 1:40

Saving the theater for after the storm.

"Big Bob" West 1:42

I'm saving it for when I inevitably lose power and have to go, you know, spend time in public places to get some air. Jake, how about you?

SPEAKER_07 1:50

So I've seen it three times. I'm going to see it tomorrow in the theater. My initial plan was to see it first day, but we had some family stuff come up, so that was delayed a week. So tomorrow afternoon, I am seeing it in the theater to kind of cap off the first, you know, 10 days or so that it's been out.

"Big Bob" West 2:06

Are you taking the whole family or are you going by yourself?

SPEAKER_07 2:10

No, no, just me and the wife. We're gonna get away and uh have an afternoon, a Fletch afternoon. Perfect. I will tell you, every time I watched it, I've liked it more and more. Jim, how many times have you seen it now?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 2:21

I saw it once in the movies. Well, I'm probably around five, five watchings. Uh, but I'll tell you guys, the reviews that Confess Fletch is getting are incredible. I did not really expect. Some of the headlines. Confess Fletch. John Ham succeeds in bringing Fletch to a new generation. Confess Fletch, a criminally entertaining comedy. Confess Fletch lets John show off his lighter side without chasing the past. See what they did there, chasing. Rolling Stones. Yes, there's a wonderful new Fletch movie starring John Ham. Not that you'd know it exists. Great article, by the way. Rolling Stones. Go read it. Confess Fletch makes a case as one of the funniest films in years. Maybe that's a stretch, but I like it. Confess Fletch is John Ham's best film acting yet. Rotten Tomatoes, 85% tomato meter on Rotten Tomatoes. And nowadays that's really the uh reviews that matter. Yeah, that's that's the critic score we're talking here. Yeah, in the past, Siskel and Ebert, you know, that was sort of the benchmark of you had to get past them. But really, Rotten Tomatoes now is the thing that people go to. So to have an 85% tomato score and a 74% audience score, which that was the one I kind of was more afraid of.

"Big Bob" West 3:37

It is really just very refreshing to see that people are loving this movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 3:41

And I think that people have given it a chance, and I think it's won some people over.

SPEAKER_07 3:45

Yeah, we were all nervous about how it would be received. The fact that those that probably didn't know a lot about Fletch have embraced it. And like you said, LJ, those that I think were more in the Chevy camp seem to have liked it as well. This also I think bodes well for the future. I think because it is so well received, more people will probably end up seeing it. Let's be honest. If the reviews are bad, it's not gonna be very encouraging for someone to watch it. The fact that the the reviews are so good, I think that only will improve at least the chances of us seeing Fletch's fortune, etc., over in the next few years.

"Big Bob" West 4:27

I've been seeing very little advertisements for this movie. I've only seen two commercial ads for it. And we're gonna get into that aspect of the movie.

SPEAKER_07 4:37

Well, I think that's been the biggest complaint, and I think we all have that opinion. You talk to anybody associated with a movie, they have that opinion too, that the promotion was just not there.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 4:50

Even within a lot of the reviews, they say it's criminal that the promotion is non-existent for this movie.

SPEAKER_06 4:57

He doesn't even know what bespoke means. Doesn't even know what bespoke the fuck, dude.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 5:02

I don't really know how they can hold the financial part against this movie if they know they didn't put the money into right, right, yeah.

"Big Bob" West 5:11

And we just recently found out that the budget for this movie was 20 million dollars. Right. Because I recently went to the movies and I was kind of hoping for a confessed fletch trailer before, and and I didn't get it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 5:22

Considering the fact that the trailer didn't drop until a week before the movie, I'm guessing it didn't make it into movie theaters. Probably not.

SPEAKER_07 5:29

You would think this type of mentality would be something if the movie was a dog, that it would just kind of be dumped. But the fact that the reviews are so good, people like it. Why not promote it? Yeah, right. I've looked every day, it's been in the top five or top ten every day on iTunes as far as rentals. I would be curious how much of revenue that actually brings in. And that's just iTunes. What about Amazon, etc.?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 5:56

Yeah, I mean, at 20 bucks a clip, you gotta get a million rentals to make it to make your money back. So I mean I doubt that's uh that's happened yet, and it's gonna take quite a while to get there. But let's get started. John Ham is starting to get reviewed as his best acting performance, which says a lot because he's won two Emmy Awards for Mad Men. And to consider this possibly his best role and his best acting performance, that says a lot. So, guys, in this movie, when you were watching it, uh, when did Ham become Fletch to you?

"Big Bob" West 6:32

Well, for me, there's a line that stands out, and I wish this line was used more in the promotion of the movie, but it's the scene where he goes and he's gonna meet with Frank. Prior to meeting with Frank, he's talking to Frank's receptionist. She says, uh, tell me your name. And he says, Fletch. And she says, Is that your first or last name? And he says, just Fletch. Yes. That line really kind of sent a jolt through me. Like that's the one that really should have been the first thing that you saw in the trailer.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Do you have a meeting?

"Big Bob" West 7:01

No, just tell him Fletch is here.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Is that a first name or a last name?

"Big Bob" West 7:05

Just Fletch. That would have really kind of said, like, hey, this is who Fletch is now, this is the character, and this is what's going to carry us for several movies. For me, that was the moment.

SPEAKER_07 7:14

For me, I think it was both the interrogation scenes. The one in the beginning of the movie, where he's just very relaxed. He has his feet up, he doesn't have his shoes on.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Where was I? Sorry, I'm so distracted by Mr. Fletcher's feet.

SPEAKER_07 7:29

Not only did that show me, you know, the kind of casual confidence of the movie Fletch, but also the book Fletch, too. So I like that first scene.

SPEAKER_06 7:39

Never met her, at least not while she was alive.

SPEAKER_07 7:42

The second scene was when they brought him back in when he's talking to Monroe and Grizz, and he was just going through his kind of list of previous charges, and he says the line uh about the alimony.

SPEAKER_06 7:55

100% of most of those were dismissed.

SPEAKER_07 7:58

And I just thought that was a great line. And uh so it was those two scenes with those two that that banter that he had with those guys. I just really was like, this is definitely my fletch. This is the fletch from the books. This, but he still has a little bit of the the movie fletch in him, too.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

If you did it, Erwin, I will catch you.

SPEAKER_07 8:21

I don't mind people calling me Irwin. And I thought those two scenes really stood out to me.

"Big Bob" West 8:26

In that scene as well, Jake, when uh when he's going and he's talking to uh Monroe in the office, just the little the little nuances, like the way he there's a picture that that Monroe has on the wall, and he just he tilts the photo. Yes, so it's you know it's not centered anymore. Just little things like that really are so you know, the physical comedy that you get from the character, you know, that's that's where he really nailed it in a lot of cases. He does that a few times, you know, in the movie itself, where just the little things, you know, like that really, really were were great little kind of nuances that helped a lot. What about you, LJ?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 8:59

I think there were three moments for me where I was like, wow, he's this is Fletch in front of me. I think one was the lunch scene in Italy with Andy. Of course. Yes. First time he ever meets her. The waiter comes over, asks if he wants anything to eat. Are you paying? You know, that that was very fletched. Yeah. Good call. 20 million hardly worth stealing. That whole interaction was very fletched to me. I think the other part is when he says he's uh uh Mike Wahlberg, Mikey Mike. The spray painting. Oh, the van. And then later on forgets the alias that he uses. You know, reminded me of the cocktoaston where he forgets, you know, what he told Gail his name was. What was your name again? What did I say?

SPEAKER_07 9:47

You know, and he was from something and the acronym was Clapp.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 9:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 9:52

That was good. We're still workshopping it, and I think he said be inspired.

"Big Bob" West 9:58

The last scene was with Tasserley's ex-wife. The decorator?

SPEAKER_07 10:01

Yeah.

"Big Bob" West 10:01

How about the fact that he wears glasses in that scene? That's like the only time we see a disguise in a way, you know?

SPEAKER_07 10:06

Yeah, I wrote that down as like that was the most fletched scene from that reminded me most of the original movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 10:13

I wrote that down as well. Yeah, he's pretending to be Frank. He's kind of putting on a little bit of a voice. Well, anyway, and even though he's not in a disguise, he definitely is playing a character in that scene. And to me, that felt very fletched. So it was those three moments where I really feel like he captured the character from me. And I I stopped seeing him as John Hamm on the screen, and I started to see him as Erwin Maurice Fletcher.

"Big Bob" West 10:48

Absolutely. And it just goes to show that we think, and we all kind of are on the same Fletch wavelength with what really stood out to us. Did you guys have a favorite moment or scene in the movie? I wrote down a lot of lines that I loved.

SPEAKER_07 11:01

Yeah, that too.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 11:02

We'll get into the lines. I think for me, the scene with Frank and Fletch in the newsroom was my favorite scene. Hi, Frank. I don't know if it was just because of the characters we knew: Frank, Larry, Frank yelling at Larry. Larry, you let this prick in. But just being in the newsroom, it felt like I was watching Fletch in his natural environment.

"Big Bob" West 11:26

The banter was there, the back and forth.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

You still owe me money. What? No, I don't. Yes, you do. For what? For charging a fuckload of ridiculous shit to the news tribute and leaving town. I had to pay for it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 11:37

Yes, absolutely. It was my favorite part. You know, I I love the line when he says, You rented a fucking carriage horse.

SPEAKER_07 11:43

Language. That was great. I wrote that down too.

"Big Bob" West 11:48

I I love that line. You guys know how I can go off on these mental tangents about I started thinking, what did he rent a carriage horse for? And God almighty, like, where is that cutting room floor footage?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 12:00

The scenes we mentioned previously or where Ham did it on his own, where he he fletched it up on his own. This was my favorite scene where he interacted with somebody where it was it, it just felt great to me. I laughed so much in it. I love Slattery as Frank.

"Big Bob" West 12:14

The Frank lines in that scene, too, are hilarious. I love what he talks about working with millennials, how they're not coming to work anymore. I guess it's probably because of COVID. Working from home.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Where is everybody? They're still working from home. Can you believe it? They're fucking babies. Places like a silent retreat. These goddamn millennials, they're so respectful. I can't tell you how much I fucking hate this place.

"Big Bob" West 12:33

That is so like grumpy Frank, you know. Like, I love that.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 12:36

You gotta give it to Matola. He he told us why he did that. They filmed this during the pandemic. So to kind of like foreshadow people not coming back to work and continuing to home after the pandemic, you know, that was pretty cool because like that's what's happening right now in the world. Right. You know, people are still working from home, they're still not coming back to the office. Smart thing, yeah. Smart workaround, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 12:58

I really like that scene. In fact, that's that is probably my favorite scene, too, is the Frank scene. But I did you guys like the scene with the Commodore at the yacht club?

SPEAKER_09 13:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 13:10

I thought that was very fletch-like too. When he was discussing his uncle, absolutely, yeah. And he said he got chopped up in a propeller and he looked like sauce.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 13:19

Oh, good lord. That's a mess. I'm gonna throw something out at you guys. When we talked to Greg Matola, he mentioned that he would have put Chevy in it if he had a part that would have been suited for Chevy. That part would have been perfect for Chevy.

SPEAKER_07 13:34

That would have probably been the best suited one, yes.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 13:37

Chevy would have walked up on him and played the Commodore role. As John Hamm is telling him just the most crazy story about how the uncle died. Can you imagine the faces Chevy would be making? Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, he could kill that part, and in a way, it would have been a face-to-face passing of the torch between Chevy and John Hamm. That would have been a perfect role to put Chevy into.

"Big Bob" West 13:59

I've talked about this before, and we mentioned it when we talked to Greg Matola, but I love the character Grizz. One of the funniest physical comedy scenes in the movie, for me at least, where I laughed pretty hard out loud, was the scene when Grizz is eating in her car and she gets the milkshake all over her. And I love the way when Fletch gets away from her and waves to her. I love the way she's at a distance watching him, and then she still takes a sip of the milkshake. Like, oh shit, he's gone. I'm gonna have my milkshake. Just take a sip of the milk. You know, I just I love the fact that she does that little physical comedy there, too. That made me laugh a lot, too. I thought she was absolutely a show stealing character for that movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 14:36

Nice job, Chris. Take five. What lines from the movie are gonna become classics one day? I think without a doubt, the five-star quote is gonna be the thing that carries on.

"Big Bob" West 14:47

Five stars.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 14:48

Yes, yeah.

"Big Bob" West 14:48

Which, you know, Greg Matullah did tell us exclusively that that was improv from John Hammond.

SPEAKER_07 14:53

And in fact, at the end of the credits of the movie, they say it again. At the very end, it says five stars.

SPEAKER_06 15:00

Mr. Frizz, four stars for Beck Seatsville.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 15:04

That variation made me laugh.

"Big Bob" West 15:06

For me, the other line that really jumped out was the pig orgasm line where where Grizz, you know, at the end, that last that last little jump with comedy.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Dang, pigs have crazy long orgasms.

"Big Bob" West 15:18

I think it could have been it could have been phrased funnier with some cursing and everything, but yeah, that was a great line too.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 15:23

Yeah. And a line that Jake has mentioned previously that I love when he comes into the neighbor's house.

SPEAKER_09 15:29

Are you hungry?

SPEAKER_06 15:29

Oh no, I ate yesterday.

SPEAKER_07 15:31

Yeah, that's a great line. Uh I like when Fletch gets out on bail and Grizz is standing there outside, and Fletch goes, How can I make this up to you? How you set for luggage?

"Big Bob" West 15:46

Is that is that a book line or is that just something you think the improvements?

SPEAKER_07 15:49

No, no. That's that I thought that was really good.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 15:52

That is a great one, yeah. And I love when he's I love when he's just walking by the cops after he gets out of jail and he says, Go Lakers. And they just give him a look.

SPEAKER_07 16:00

Well, that would be a line meant for you. I like when the townhouse owner walks in during the dinner party at the end and goes, Am I shirt?

SPEAKER_06 16:10

No. Maybe.

"Big Bob" West 16:12

Yeah, that's a great one. What about the line of I'm an open book? Yeah. I thought that was a good creative kind of meta line because obviously character is a character that came from a book. I just thought it was a pretty cool, intentional kind of like, you know, for book fans. Yes. I love that too.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 16:27

Come on, Inspector. I'm an open book. It was almost like Ham's version of Fletch winking at the audience.

SPEAKER_07 16:34

Yeah. What about our least favorite scene? We were talking about our favorite scenes. What was your least favorite scene? I'll start. I thought the dinner scene at the end was a little much. I just thought there was too much going on. Okay, a lot of balls in the air. Why can't you do now? I thought it wasn't like super duper funny. And the way this Andy kind of left abruptly seemed a little forced. So that was the only thing I thought that I didn't really care for was that scene.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 17:04

I mean, if we're going to talk about where the movie missed the mark, I think at the top of all our list is the theme. Sure. I still believe this movie could have benefited greatly with the music from the original soundtrack. I think Fletch's theme is the same as James Bond's theme. You wouldn't make a James Bond movie without the theme, even though you're changing actors and changing directors and everything else. That was the biggest miss for me and the hardest thing to swallow.

"Big Bob" West 17:33

And bit by bit. Yeah, bit by bit would be great.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 17:36

You mentioned bit by bit, and I don't want to forget this. Stalled Movies created a mashup of the Stephanie Mills 80s music video for BitByBit, but they inserted scenes from Confessed Fletch. It's flawless, it's awesome. Go check it out. Stalled Movies on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, wherever they are, you'll be able to find it. We posted it on our social media too. As far as scenes, I didn't like, I don't know if it was a whole scene. I feel like the kitchen scene with the neighbor went on a little long. I felt like certain gags, somebody catching on fire unknowingly and then being put out by the other person. That's like an old gag. That wasn't very funny, and you kind of see that coming a mile away. Kind of unnecessary. I previously said I didn't like the Macchiato line.

SPEAKER_07 18:25

Oh, yes, that's right. That's right. We could have inserted something in there.

"Big Bob" West 18:29

Maybe it's from a lack of not paying attention, because I, you know, I I'm infamous for that, but I don't understand how the van scene really plays into uh to an extent that it was needed.

SPEAKER_07 18:39

Here's what happens in the book. See, what happens is Fletch puts graffiti on the van at right after he buys it. And that's an excuse to get it painted. So at the end of the movie, it's painted, I believe, black. Yeah, I think he bought it, it was blue. He pulled it into the garage and just wrote graffiti on it. And then he took it to another place to get it painted because he said he, I think he was at a plumber or electrician or something, and it was his work van and he needed to get it painted.

"Big Bob" West 19:10

See, to me, what a missed opportunity. You could have put like that Sam's Burger Shack or something on the side of it, you know, like Yes.

SPEAKER_07 19:16

Oh my gosh, that's a great idea.

"Big Bob" West 19:19

I mean, and honestly, like I understand that we've already talked about it in previous episodes. We took we talked about how certain characters they couldn't get the rights for Underhill, but oh man, oh man, you know, missed opportunities.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 19:33

There were a lot of scenes dedicated to the van being painted, you know, which probably could have just been done quicker. One other missed opportunity, I think, for a joke was in the book, Fletch writes, You must be high on the top roof of the van, which is a funny joke to airplanes or whoever can see it overhead.

"Big Bob" West 19:51

Yeah.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 19:52

And it would have been a funny callback as the movie's ending, a nice overhead shot of the van pulling away. You know the paintings are in it. You see the joke on the roof. And because the painting and the whole thing behind painting the van really comes full circle at the end of the book, the very, very end. Flynn questions Fletch about the van, and the color comes into question. And that's kind of how the count gets away with the paintings in the book, because Flynn doesn't recognize the color of the van at the very, very end. So it doesn't really have the super importance as it has in the book that it had in the movie. It didn't necessarily need to be drawn out in multiple scenes like it was in the movie.

FletchCast Intro 20:33

Sounds sketchy.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:34

Okay, and one last thing, kind of question. Maybe they had no choice here, and then we'll go back to the more positives. But I think by Larry not knowing Fletch when he walks up to her, I mean, does that undo the Fletch universe of the original movie?

"Big Bob" West 20:48

Yeah, that is a retcon that I do not like. You know, you talk about changing the narrative and everything, and I didn't like that. I I thought that Larry should have seen Fletch coming and jumped out of her seat to give him a big hug. I agree.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 21:02

She should have been on the phone, saw him coming, and been like, oh my god, Fletch. And then he could have done something funny with her while she was on the phone, gives them the biggest hug, yeah, and then he in into the newsroom.

"Big Bob" West 21:15

Yeah, her her having no prior knowledge of who of who Fletch is, again, like why?

SPEAKER_07 21:21

I agree. What's the point in it even calling her Larry? I mean, there's just no point in it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 21:26

Exactly what you said, changing the narrative undoes the first movie. That's not what Matola was going for. He did say that the Stanwyck story of the first movie did happen to this Fletch.

"Big Bob" West 21:36

So that part Yeah, a little bit of a confusing, I don't want to be as negative to say the word let down, but just a confusing idea.

SPEAKER_07 21:45

I agree. It was just kind of not really needed or not executed the way we thought it would be.

"Big Bob" West 21:52

Right. Right, right.

SPEAKER_07 21:53

It's funny because you know I love the book and I've read it quite a few times. But I will tell you that the Countess for me really just didn't do it for me. I guess just the way she really didn't have a purpose.

SPEAKER_04 22:12

Oh, you better be cock. I'm going to be in the way.

SPEAKER_07 22:15

There wasn't really anything to her.

SPEAKER_04 22:17

Flesh. I told you, I'm not sleep with you.

SPEAKER_07 22:21

She just wasn't really fleshed out as a character. I just really didn't really care for her.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

What are my paintings? What is she talking about? Is the big castle here?

"Big Bob" West 22:30

Do you think it was the wrong choice of person they chose, or do you think maybe just the delivery execution wasn't there?

SPEAKER_07 22:35

No, but you know, she had a lot more to do with the story in the book. Because in the book, we can talk about it now, you know, Andy and the Countess were behind stealing the paintings.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

I loved my manty. I did not steal the paintings.

SPEAKER_07 22:54

They blew town at the end of the book, and Fletch gave the paintings back to the Count, and that was more retcounting, yeah.

"Big Bob" West 23:01

Right.

SPEAKER_07 23:01

Yeah, so I just thought that was underutilized, the little underwritten.

"Big Bob" West 23:05

I think that's I think that's a pretty fair thing to say.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 23:08

Another gray area for me was when Fletch finally gets arrested for murder, and as we know, Monroe takes his time and never makes mistakes. So he is determined Fletch is the murderer. How does Fletch get out on bail?

SPEAKER_07 23:21

Yeah, that's what I was curious about that too. I was like, how did he get out? He's being charged for murder. And you know, in the in the book, too, they were broke, they didn't have any money.

"Big Bob" West 23:32

Well, you always have under his American Express card, though. That's true.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 23:35

Now it's weird that at that point Grizz and Monroe have determined that Fletch is a murderer. He's murdered somebody. Yet when he gets out on bail, him and Grizz are very joking and chummy together.

SPEAKER_07 23:48

That's true too. That's a good point. Right. Just a little bit of what they call plot holes.

"Big Bob" West 23:53

Yeah. And for me, I think the biggest wire that didn't get connected to this movie, other than the music, was, and I've said it before, and I'm not gonna harp on it because I don't want people to take this all as negatives. This is just a part of the podcast where we're talking about some of the negatives. The the lack of the overnarration of Fletch wasn't there in the movie. I think that that was a major oversight or just a decision that was made. I've I've said this before, but the brand of Fletch's in the movies itself is that overnarration, you know, where he gets a lot of really funny jokes in and also kind of sets up some of the storyline. It's a mystery movie. It's a mystery movie. So, you know, you want to hear his mindset of, you know, you know, of a who done it, you know, you want to hear his thought process. And the fact that it wasn't there, for me, that was the biggest miss of the entire movie. I don't care about Easter eggs that they could have taken care of our music. I think that that was the biggest miss overall is the fact that that wasn't there. Having that Chevy Chase voice, you know, with the Faltimore music behind it. Again, you know, shame it wasn't there, but maybe for the future it can be.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 24:55

I agree with you. It it the movie could have used that for sure. And I think we could have gotten in a lot of jokes that way. I think we also could have determined how smart Fletch is and how good of an investigative reporter he is. He went around telling everybody he was a famous investigative reporter.

SPEAKER_06 25:13

I was a reporter of some repute. Well, I did put quite a few prominent people away when I was a very famous reporter at the News Tribune in Los Angeles.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 25:21

I wasn't an investigative reporter of some repute. That would have been the perfect avenue to delve inside the brain of this incredibly smart investigative journalist.

"Big Bob" West 25:32

Yeah, it's poker player mentality where you don't show your hand, but you know that you have the best hand, but you're not gonna you're gonna bluff, you know, and there was none of that.

SPEAKER_07 25:38

More in tone to the books, and Matola had you mentioned this, which I did like though, is that Fletch at least thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, but a lot of times he's not. And you know, the ending of the book is very similar as far as like Haran being the killer and things like that. So I did appreciate that he made mistakes, that he wasn't perfect.

"Big Bob" West 26:02

Yeah, he was fallible.

SPEAKER_07 26:03

Um so I really did, I I really appreciate the fact that they did keep that. Um and there were and we would talk, we can talk about this, you know, there are a lot of nods to the other books that and Confess Itself, which I really, you know, he used the the you know, he used Ralph Locke, which I thought was really good.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

Well, he told me his name was Ralph Locke.

SPEAKER_07 26:28

The cowboy painter, which I love that they kept that.

SPEAKER_06 26:31

I'm researching a book, the definitive biography of Edgar Arthur Tharp Jr.

SPEAKER_07 26:35

They mentioned Clara Snow, which was awesome.

SPEAKER_06 26:39

Just be a real shame if Daphne found out that you defiled Clara Snow in the supply closet all those years ago. I mean let's say today's climate, you were a boss.

SPEAKER_07 26:48

Yeah, they used Inspector, which was good. They didn't have to do that.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Sergeant Inspector Monroe. Inspector against Gullingard.

SPEAKER_07 26:57

They kept Monroe at least an inspector. They mentioned the murder of the councilwoman with an ice pick. That was in the book.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

The mayor bestowed that special rank on me after I saw the murder of a city councilwoman. She got stabbed multiple times with an ice pick. No bathtub.

SPEAKER_06 27:14

I mean, I guess if you work in politics, you probably do have to take a lot of baths.

SPEAKER_07 27:18

The fact that he did have bare feet, that was kind of something that was in previous novels that you know Fletch was always walking around with bare feet.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 27:25

And even Frank mentions it because it's something that in the books Frank's super annoyed by. Almost great seeing you, Frank. Glad you kept your fucking shoes off. Another book reference, kind of subtle, but the bad check charge that Monroe mentions.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

I looked into your criminal record. Yeah. Bad check charge.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 27:44

Is a reference to the check he wrote Gillette out of the checkbook that he found on the beach in the first Fletch book. Yep. That was another one.

SPEAKER_07 27:53

Hey Jake, what about what about his his his pen name or his alias that he brings up? Well, he's known as Peter Fletcher. In the book, he introduces himself to Flynn as Peter Fletcher. Haran knows him as Peter Fletcher. He only used the the Ralph Locke when he was calling the airlines to do some investigating on when um Connors was coming in. So that that was, I don't know why they went with that.

SPEAKER_09 28:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 28:18

You know, I was thinking, and I don't know if we discussed this before, I I have a couple ways where you could at least use the word under where you could almost get away with it, like hi sir, what's your reservation? He could say under, at least start it and then get interrupted. So you could say under and then someone yell fletch or something like that. So yeah, that would have been that's a great idea. You don't know whether he was gonna say under wood or under heel.

"Big Bob" West 28:45

If you just got under firing on all cylinders, that is brilliant right there.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 28:48

Yeah, you could even say the name Ted to make it even closer. Yes, exactly. Let's say when Fletch needed bail, he's talking to Andy on the phone. He says, Andy, go in my top drawer. There's an American Express card. The name of the card should be Ted Under. And maybe someone in the jail says, Fletch, time's up. Exactly. Yeah. And then maybe says to Andy, like, it's okay, we were in the war together.

SPEAKER_07 29:10

Guys, that's that's that's that's top notch. So there's a way you could get around the movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 29:15

Good thinking. Well, that's a good segue. Speaking of movie references, what movie references did you guys pick up on?

SPEAKER_07 29:20

Well, the Lakers had is obvious.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 29:22

Lakers fan?

SPEAKER_03 29:24

What do you think?

SPEAKER_07 29:25

I know we were going to talk about the biggest surprises of the movie. And I'll be honest, the biggest surprise for me was them using the dialogue from the first movie at the end of this movie. I was completely blown away by that. And in fact, I rewinded it immediately because I was like, did I hear that right? And played it again. And I was like, I cannot believe they used that. That was a great callback and the biggest surprise for me.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 29:55

Okay, let's compare the two lines of dialogue from the bad guy reveal scene between Stanwick and Haran. First, Stanwick. I was already prepared to commit one murder, asked face. What makes you think I won't commit two? Huh? Whoops. All right, now Haran.

SPEAKER_04 30:12

I was already prepared to commit one murder tonight. What makes you think I won't commit two? Whoops. I love it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 30:18

I love it. That was genius. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 30:22

You know the Moon River would have been great.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 30:26

I agree. And and we obviously we talked to Matola and he he said there were a bunch more planned that they got shot down.

SPEAKER_07 30:32

That would have been a really funny, funny scene. Yeah. How much is Moon River? Yeah. I mean, how much is Moon River? I would I mean you and I could probably get a GoFundMe together to get that in the movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 30:47

I was just gonna say that. You know, and think about it. If there if the band's playing Moon River and Chevy walks up to him on the boat.

SPEAKER_07 30:56

Yes, yes, as the Commodore.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 30:59

I just got goosebumps the way that scene just fell into place. But it's true. I'm somebody that likes fan, likes a lot of references, likes a lot of fan service. I walk away from a movie really enjoying those things. Unfortunately, we didn't get enough of it.

"Big Bob" West 31:14

But again, this isn't the end. We could be seeing more movies, we could be getting more money. I mean, we talked about how this movie had a$20 million budget and went over budget, and they had to pour their own money into the movie. John Hamm had to pay 60% of his salary back?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 31:28

And yep. Yeah, that's shocking to us to read, you know, that John Hamm gave back 60% of his salary and Greg Matola gave back a portion of his too, just to film three more days. Yeah. Uh finish the movie and get one day in Italy.

"Big Bob" West 31:42

Which tells me that the studio didn't have enough faith and didn't and didn't give it enough breathing room to make it as great as it could have been. Hopefully, the studio's smart, and I and I blame the studio. Hopefully, the studio smartens up for any future Fletch movies, and we get a better budget and we get way more support for for the next one. So we don't have to deal with this bullshit of, you know, we oh, we couldn't get Underhill or we couldn't get Moon River or we couldn't get False Meyer, whatever. You know, let's not dwell on what we couldn't get. Let's just get it for the next movie, you know, and let's just make this a home run.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 32:15

Jake mentioned some of the biggest surprises, and uh we to touched on it before, but the character of Grizz really was a huge surprise for me because when I saw her on screen, one of the first things she does is sort of like fumble her her pad, and I'm thinking, oh my god, like okay, I've seen this character a million times. Yeah, but really, as the movie went on, you know, she started out a little mousey looking and a little, and I think I feel like as the movie went on, she was cute as a button by the end of the day.

"Big Bob" West 32:43

I was thinking the same thing. She was the Larry of the movie. You fall in love with her as the time goes on. That's a great comparison.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 32:50

Yeah, she was my favorite character in the entire movie overall. I liked her way better than I like Monroe. I mean, her her delivery was great. Yeah. Aiden Mayeri.

unknown 33:01

I really like her.

"Big Bob" West 33:02

Such compassion. Credit to her and credit to Greg Matola for directing that. That worked well.

SPEAKER_07 33:08

I thought Slattery was, I thought he knocked it out of part two. Uh uh I was surprised just how much I liked him. And I and I was surprised how much he was kind of grizzled and you know cantankerous. He was a throwback, you know. He really was, and just dropping F bombs left and right. Oh, absolutely was so funny. Just disgusted by what the world has become.

"Big Bob" West 33:34

Yes, yeah, grumpy is the best way I think to describe him.

SPEAKER_07 33:37

Remember, you know, because and he definitely looked a little bit more disheveled than we thought he was. Because remember we were watching the trailer, and I think you guys were like, Oh, he looks a lot more clean cut. And but I mean, like, he looked pretty frumpy, I think.

SPEAKER_09 33:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 33:54

The scenes he was in. You know, he has his hair was kind of sticking up, and you know, he's yeah, you should be able to smell, you should be able to smell Frank from around. Right, right.

SPEAKER_09 34:02

Yep.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 34:04

You know, I love I love the line when when Fletch says, didn't you bring anyone from LA? And he says, just Pete who does the jumble. Hey, Pete! Hey, Fletch.

SPEAKER_07 34:14

Jesus does the jumble.

"Big Bob" West 34:19

I hate Pete too. Mr. Exciting. Which which my I theorize that that's supposed to be ancient comic book. Very well could be. Overall, from hearing about the movie being made to the casting, watching IMDb, to wondering when the hell the trailer's gonna drop, and and finally getting the trailer, finally getting a copy, an advanced copy of it, finally seeing it all put together at once. What what are your guys' final takeaways, Jake?

SPEAKER_07 34:45

I think this at the end of it all is a movie that is for a true Fletch fan, a fan of the books. I think and I asked Jason McDonald what he thought that maybe Greg would think of it, and he told me that he would have loved it. He said when he would see Fletch in Rome on a Vespa, he said he would have loved it. He said just seeing that alone would have made him so happy. And for me, as a huge fan of the books, I came away very, very pleased with it. I thought the tone was right, I thought the writing was really good, I thought it was edited really good, I thought it was sharp. I loved the book itself. I thought they took a lot from it. Yes, of course, they made some changes, but we know that's always the case. But at the end, I was very, very happy with it. This is a movie that I think we can build on too for future movies. So I think it's a wonderful start. I mean, if we had to grade them, I would definitely give it a solid A.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 36:02

Hallelujah. I agree. I'm I'm always somebody that looks at the positive rather than the negative, you know, for decades. We've been waiting for another Fletch. 30 plus years. Yeah, we got a movie that was that had a lot of great to take away from it. And to me, to step back into the world of Fletch for an hour and a half was fun. I really let my expectations go and just enjoyed the movie and didn't think about all the things we talked about today. I knew we would have to look at this movie in a deeper way, and and then we did so on this podcast. But when I just sat there and watched it as a movie, it made me smile to see that Fletch was was alive again.

SPEAKER_07 36:44

And I I like that there were some subtle hints of the first movie without knocking us over the head with them. But I do agree there could have been a few more. I know there's some limitations. Again, maybe we'll get those in future movies. But I think you have to be pleased, and you're right, Jim. Just to have that character alive and back on the screen is enough to make a lot of people happy, including myself.

"Big Bob" West 37:09

My take is this I personally want to thank Greg Matola, I want to thank John Ham. I want to thank the family for allowing you know this to be done. I think that they had a huge mountain to climb, and I think that they did the best with what they were given. I would like to absolutely shame the studio for putting a$20 million tag on something that deserves so much more. I feel like they the people that put their passion, the people that put their their love of the character and the stories into this movie, thank you. But the people that whoever it was that decided that they weren't gonna give this movie an extra dime, they weren't gonna give this movie any support, because there's somebody out there from whatever studio it was, uh, whether it's Miramax or or or Paramount or whoever, shame on you for not giving this more and not putting more effort into it. You're clearly not a Fletch fan. You clearly are just somebody sitting behind a desk who has no appreciation uh for how great a property Fletch is and what it could be. And I hope you smarten up in the next potential offerings, whether it's another movie, another two movies, another 10 movies. I hope you smarten up and realize what you have in your in your hands and and give this way more support, way more when I say support, I don't mean just financial. I mean, you know, the little things that have to be done to make sure that you can get a name like Underhill in a movie or the character Larry without having to go and you know sneak it in there for this because this was good, but it could have been great. And I blame whoever it was in the studio that didn't see the vision to make it great. And that's that's really all I have to say about it. I I I liked it a lot. And we you guys have already, I'm not gonna be a dead horse or less a dead horse for that matter. Um, but but I will definitely say, you know, let's get more of this and let's get somebody from the studio to really back this and make this something really spectacular because damn it, we deserve it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 39:25

Yeah, I I think John Hamm was on Howard Stern and he said when they were gonna make the movie, they thought to themselves they were gonna just approach Netflix. Netflix would just throw money at them, buy it, and they'd be on the road to making all 10. And when that didn't happen, and every every other studio they pitched to said basically, who cares about Fletch anymore? I think the critics and the audience and the fans have spoken. A lot of people care about Fletch. It's something that people have been waiting for, people have been dying for. And I do think they can they can certainly improve on what they've started with.

"Big Bob" West 40:03

Yeah, yeah. But it's a great base. And honestly, look at your look at your your reaction to this movie. Look at the audience scores, look at the critic scores. You know, uh smart enough. Smart enough and realize what you have and and and don't make your uh producers put their own money into a movie in the future. Help them, you know, don't hamstring them. Make this something that could be really special for the fans of the of the books, the fans of the movies. Give me something great to watch, not something good to watch, you know. Let's let's get this going. Let's get 10 movies out of this and let's make this something that could really be, you know, another Jason Bourne or another Bond or another Indiana Jones, whatever. Another great series that people could talk about for years. Otherwise, you know, find another studio, find somebody who's as passionate as we are and as they are.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 40:47

Couldn't have said it better myself. I mean, shame on the people that didn't believe.

SPEAKER_07 40:52

Well, it's nice to know that really we have gotten the last word because I don't know how you could have watched it and and and had the opinion afterwards that this is not going to work. This is I really believe that if this had some decent promotion, this really could have opened well and played a long time. Like I think it's one of those mid-range movies that, you know, maybe opens with like 10 million, but continues to play, you know, for weeks and weeks and at the end makes a solid 60 or 70 million.

"Big Bob" West 41:29

One more thing, since I'm all pissed and vinegar fired up right now. To whoever gets their hands on this next, whether it's again Matola or whoever, you know, don't be afraid to reach out to us and hire us for very cheap to uh to give you. We listen, we can write, we we can we have no credits under our belts. Somehow I'm on IMDb right now and I have no idea how I'm there. Yeah, just gonna say I don't know how the hell my name is on IMDb, but for Christ's sake, if my name is gonna be on IMDb, what let me at least get a writing credit. I could pitch lines. I can we the three of us could could write a hell of a flashback, and we will if we have to. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 42:01

We've got enough clout. We could we could definitely contribute. You're exactly right. Yes, you're exactly right. But it's people like and people that are listening, that we really have to be on the ground, boots on the ground, and just continue to spread the word. Because that's the it's it's is the awareness. We have to make people aware that this movie exists and that people should see it. And if you like it, please tell other people because that is the only way we're gonna be able to see more. I would definitely recommend picking up Fletcher's Fortune because I know that's the next movie that they want to be made. I guarantee you will love that book as well.

"Big Bob" West 42:44

So again, that was a bit of an Easter egg too, Jake. Yeah, that was a bit of an Easter egg. Yes, you're right. Actually, I'm glad you mentioned that.

SPEAKER_07 42:50

That is one thing that I did forget to mention was the very end. I think I had mentioned it to Matola there. That yeah, they set up fortune at the very end when Frank called Fletch on the Boat, talking about Walter March uh turning over his media empire to his son. That's that was right out of the book. Um so although well, I don't want to get into too much on Fletch's fortune. That's not quite how the how the book is set up, but it's definitely mentioned.

"Big Bob" West 43:21

Doesn't matter right out of Fletch's fortune. Listen to what Jake is saying right now and give it more than 20 million.

SPEAKER_07 43:26

Yeah, that is right out of Fletch's Fortune. And I'm telling you, Fletch's Fortune is such a funny, good book. So if you want to know what happens after Confess, pick up Fletch's Fortune. BlackstonePublishing.com.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 43:42

Well, that about wraps up this episode of Fletchcast. We'd like to thank you so much for listening. It was so much fun to start to break down the new movie. And we'll be talking more and more about Confess Fletch as the weeks go on and on. We want to remind you that Greg Matola is coming back on the show, and we would love Love for your questions to be answered by the director of Confess Fletch. Now, to get your questions in, you're gonna have to call the Fletchcast hotline. The number is 267-714-6799. Call and leave us a voicemail. Don't forget to leave your name and where you're from, and we'll try to get as many questions answered by Greg Batola as possible. We want to remind you that Blackstone Publishing has re-released Confess Fletch, but this time with the brand new John Ham cover, and it looks awesome. It's the poster of the movie and it looks just really sweet. Fortunately for Blackstone, it's almost impossible for John Ham to steal a book from an online store. So you're gonna have to go on and buy it, John, and everybody else that wants it. But the good thing is, if you go to blackstonepublishing.com, they have a special deal for the Fletch novels. If you buy the whole series, and I think even if you sign up for their mailing list, you get 20% off anyway. So head on over to BlackstonePublishing.com and pick up the new Confess Fletch novel today. Alright, boys. That was a great episode. That was a lot of fun. For Jake and Bob, I'm Laker Jim. We're gonna go catch the last 10 minutes of Dynasty. See ya.

"Big Bob" West 45:14

Alright, guys. Later.

SPEAKER_06 45:21

Five stars.