Confess, Fletch
Paramount Global | Release Date: September 16, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The Film StageDan MeccaSep 21, 2022
The tone throughout Confess, Fletch is refreshingly casual and the dialogue is usually clever. The silliest bits are some of the accents and a twisty plot. Hamm anchors all of it, as funny as he’s teased at being for the last decade or so in supporting roles. Read full review
83
IndieWireJude DrySep 15, 2022
Though the original novels were written in the ’70s and ’80s, at times Confess, Fletch feels like a ’50s farce, with good old-fashioned misdirection and mistaken identities doing the leg work. Unlike James Bond, Fletch doesn’t need gadgets or fast cars to untangle this mystery, just a few Negronis and heaps of charisma. The formula works. Read full review
83
ConsequenceRobert HamSep 12, 2022
With its lived-in charm, snappy dialogue, and Hamm’s star appeal, Confess, Fletch has all the ingredients to be a sneaky success. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJason BaileySep 12, 2022
Confess, Fletch is an absolute pleasure – the mystery is a corker, and I giggled from beginning to end. Read full review
80
EmpireScott WamplerNov 15, 2022
Even if you’re wholly unfamiliar with the franchise, Confess, Fletch will find fans among anyone who likes mystery-comedies, wickedly dry humour, and the sight of Kyle MacLachlan twirling glow-sticks to club music. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesGeoff BerkshireSep 23, 2022
Hamm’s performance here as freelance journalist and investigative whiz Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher is a master class in effortless charm, a comedic turn that never sacrifices the character’s intelligence for a punchline yet steers clear of the smugness and smarminess so prevalent in contemporary comedy. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Jen ChaneySep 21, 2022
A quietly delightful new entry in the Fletch series. Read full review
80
IGNMatt FowlerSep 16, 2022
Confess, Fletch is a clever soft-baked cookie of a mystery, never getting too intense or presenting massive stakes, which is the perfect sandbox for a wise-cracking investigator like Fletch to play around in as he relies on a mix of charm, smarts, and luck to make it through to the other side. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushMatt SingerSep 13, 2022
It didn’t knock me out with ingenious plot twists, bold cinematography, or groundbreaking editing. But it made me smile for 98 minutes. That doesn’t happen too often lately. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 14, 2022
It might be another 30 years before we get the next “Fletch,” but if Hamm is up for a repeat appearance, I’d be more than pleased to come along for the ride. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonSep 14, 2022
The journey is always more entertaining than the destination, and this one’s a lot of fun. Read full review
75
TheWrapSimon AbramsSep 14, 2022
An average scene in Confess, Fletch features several different kinds of humor, including callbacks, running jokes, physical comedy, and character-driven wordplay, all of which either flatter the individual actors or show off how well they work with their co-stars. Read full review
72
PolygonJesse HassengerSep 15, 2022
Mottola and Hamm don’t seem like they’re trying to rewrite Hamm in Fletch’s image, or vice versa. They look more like they’re making exactly the half silly, half sly movie they personally want to see. Read full review
70
We Got This CoveredMatthew PejkovicOct 3, 2022
While the stakes don’t feel high, Hamm’s charismatic turn and the consistent stream of high-quality scene partners makes the end product an engaging chuckle-fest of a movie. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearSep 26, 2022
It’s a delightful throwback to an age when a comic mystery fueled by someone with a screen-friendly persona and even screen-friendlier good looks weren’t an anomaly, and a perfect vehicle for Hamm. It’s right in the breezy, funny, irreverent sweet spot in which a filmmaker poised between journeyman and auteur like Greg Mottola works best. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRob RectorSep 26, 2022
For those who have read any of the McDonald adventures with the reporter (there are nine, not including the “Son of Fletch” novels), Confess, Fletch feels much more authentic. Hamm is given one of the biggest sandboxes yet for his talent and he pulls it off. Here’s hoping for future chapters. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 15, 2022
There’s more than one way to get a job done — whether it’s solving a murder, recovering priceless art or repainting an old van — and Fletch’s strategy is guaranteed to be more original than whatever the next guy would try. Read full review
67
UproxxVince ManciniSep 24, 2022
Mottola still shows a clear flair for the humanistic, good-natured comedy of Superbad and Adventureland, and most of the joke writing in Confess, Fletch is sharp, to the point of being exceptionally so. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubBrian CollinsSep 14, 2022
As a return of a big-screen favorite, it’s perhaps a bit too slipshod for its own good, lacking the fun chase scenes and romantic interludes that helped make the first film such a beloved favorite. Read full review
67
ColliderRoss BonaimeSep 12, 2022
Confess, Fletch is decent—not quite a great mystery, not an excellent comedy, but fully enjoyable for what it is. A major part of that is Hamm’s ability to play up his charms, while also showing his gifts as a comedic actor. Read full review
65
CNNBrian LowrySep 16, 2022
Confess, Fletch doesn’t possess a whole lot of heft, but it manages to serve as an old-fashioned and playful star vehicle, carving out a version of the character that’s distinctive from Chase’s broader, more slapstick-oriented take. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 13, 2022
Nobody knocks anything out of the park, but this “Fletch” piles up the singles and doubles, an endless parade of funny lines almost always just thrown away, casually. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 17, 2022
It’s amiable entertainment, and Hamm may well develop in the character if this becomes a franchise. Read full review
60
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiSep 26, 2022
Confess, Fletch isn't a ringing endorsement of rebooting projects from the 80s; instead, it is an excellent showcase of Jon Hamm's comedic chops, a well-known skill that has been primarily misused until now. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldSep 15, 2022
Getting peeved at Mottola and Hamm’s easygoing efforts would be like getting mad at a cat for sleeping too much. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 12, 2022
Hamm makes plenty of sense in this role, but Mottola and Zev Borow’s screenplay doesn’t totally convince us the character is series-worthy. Read full review
50
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenOct 4, 2022
Despite Hamm’s evident comedic potential (still best exemplified by his appearances on Saturday Night Live), Confess, Fletch plays like an attempt to perform CPR on DOA dad jokes. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoSep 16, 2022
It’s fun to watch a character like Fletch escape hot water, but it’s never even lukewarm here, and so every time that the movie gets back to its plotting, it just sags like a bad episode of a cable TV mystery-of-the-week show. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesSep 14, 2022
Genial and unbothered, Confess, Fletch never climbs higher than mere adequacy. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyNov 18, 2022
Visually, it’s one great shrug, but to get by with a throwaway murder plot this routine, the zingers at least must zing. They rarely do. There’s something turgid and defeated about it. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneNina MetzSep 15, 2022
Fletch tends to think he’s the smartest guy in the room. So how is that supposed to work when the performance itself is so adrift and unappealing? Read full review
30
SlashfilmMike ShuttSep 12, 2022
Confess, Fletch, based on Mcdonald's second novel in the series, entirely misjudges the comedic appeal of its predecessor, transforming a setup of one sardonic man at the center of a hardboiled mystery into a barrage of eccentricities and bits that just sit dead on the screen. Read full review
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