Confess, Fletch gives Jon Hamm the chance to flex his goofy comedic chops in a low key murder mystery both funny and engrossing.

For many, the word “Fletch” will bring back memories of an in-his-prime Chevy Chase as Irwin M. Fletcher, an undercover reporter for the Los Angeles Times who, over the course of two movies Fletch (released in 1985) and Fletch Lives (released in 1989), investigates his stories with dogged determination to often hilarious results.

The Fletch movies are based on the novels by Gregory McDonald, and numerous attempts over the last 30-plus years have been made to bring Fletch series back to the screen. Confess, Fletch proves that time has indeed been kind to the Fletch series, with director Greg Mottolla (Superbad) and actor Jon Hamm the perfect combination relaunching pad for a long-defunct film series that, hopefully, will get more sequels.

Hamm, of course, plays Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher, a freelance journalist who was once “an investigative journalist of some repute”. Hired by a wealthy Italian businessman to locate several stolen paintings worth millions last located In Boston, Fletch finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery in which he is the main suspect. Fletch must find the paintings and clear his name.

With its brisk pace and witty screenplay, Confess, Fletch not only succeeds as an entertaining whodunnit, but also gives Hamm the perfect role to flex his comedic muscles and natural charm. Armed with a wide array of smart-arse comebacks and putdowns while bravely working the streets of Boston with a Los Angeles Lakers hat, Hamm’s Fletch is the embodiment of a shit-stirrer, yet a loveable one at that.

Although Fletch is very much a goofball, there is an intelligence to the character that is refreshing, a low-key psychological approach that Fletch uses to get under the skin of his own varied list of suspects. Fletch, meanwhile, continues to stay one step ahead of a pair of bumbling cops (Roy Wood Jr. and Ayden Mayeri) in scenes that somewhat remind of another classic fish-out-of-water crime comedy Beverly Hills Cop.

Mottolla (who co-wrote the screenplay with Zev Barrow) delivers a crime comedy romp in Confess, Fletch that is easy going yet never lazy. While the stakes don’t feel high, Hamm’s charismatic performance and the consistent stream of high-quality scene partners makes Confess, Fletch an engaging chuckle-fest of a movie.