Movie Review Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch (2022) 

Directed by Greg Mottola

Written by Greg Mottola, Zev Borow

Starring Jon Hamm, Marcia Gay Harden, John Slattery, Annie Mumolo, Kyle MacLachlan

Release Date September 16th, 2022

Confess, Fletch is a reboot of an 80s franchise that rarely gets discussed these days. That’s perhaps the fault of its legendarily jerky star Chevy Chase. Chase has become a cranky old geezer, as shown by his behind the scenes stories from his time working on the series Community and the ugly end of that run via his feud with showrunner Dan Harmon. It’s not unreasonable to assume that people would remember Fletch and Fletch Lives far more fondly if Chase were a beloved and respected comedy veteran and not as a guy people don’t enjoy working with. 

Nevertheless, Chase’s shadow does loom large over the attempt to reboot the franchise. For years, the project has been cursed by studio magnates balking at creative choices and numerous directors and actors falling in and out of love with the project. The last I had heard of Fletch was all the way back in 2003 when Kevin Smith was desperately trying to make a Fletch movie starring his pal Jason Lee as Fletch. That movie never happened as executives felt that Lee wasn’t a big enough star for the role. So, imagine my surprise when I received an email inviting me to watch Confess, Fletch, a newly completed reboot of the franchise.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet 

Directed by David Lynch 

Written by David Lynch

Starring Kyle McLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern

Release Date September 19th, 1986

Published January 20th, 2025 

The passing of legendary director David Lynch caused me to want to look at one of his films that I have always found daunting and unpleasant. Blue Velvet contains a performance by Dennis Hopper that is among the most unsettling, unpredictable, and bizarre that I’ve ever seen on screen. Well, that’s what I felt as a 21 year old film critic learning about movies and arrogantly flying in the face of more conventional opinions. I was a hotheaded contrarian but one who chose his battles. Blue Velvet became a battleground for me because it was beloved by many respected film scholars. But, the reality of Blue Velvet was that it and specifically, Dennis Hopper's abrasive and hard charging performance, had challenged me in a way I wasn't ready for. 

Blue Velvet isn’t exactly entry level film studies. The thick layers of trauma, sentimentality, delusion, and sexual dysfunction that define Blue Velvetrequire a mature perspective. Lynch’s approach often needs a more scholarly eye than what mine was at 21 years old and with no experience in film school. I had also previously seen Eraserhead and found it so off-putting that I could not finish it, which I am certain colored my opinion of Lynch’s work as I approached Wild at Heart and then Blue Velvet, both films I was simply not ready to process.

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.