# For fans of the Fletch books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631 "2020-07-18T01:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631/21 "2020-07-18T04:26:08Z")
I read all the Fletch books, and considered Chevy Chase intermittently good in the first movie. Often he felt the need to mug when he delivered a joke, and at those moments he sucked; but in other parts of the movies, he carried it off. Jon Hamm seems like a terrible choice, but we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631/22 "2020-07-18T04:58:35Z")
Y’know who would have been the absolutely most perfect casting of Fletch? Brad Pitt circa about 15 years ago, although he could still pull off playing the character in the later books. He has that bigdick energy and comedic flair that would work perfectly. Too damned bad the Coen brothers didn’t decide to tackle these around 2000 or so. Sigh. Can I go to that timeline, plz? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631/23 "2020-07-18T08:42:30Z")
Agree. Pitt’s character in _One Upon a Time in Hollywood_, in particular, is very much an older Fletch. I think Hamm is great, but he lacks the Fletch’s boyishness and slacker vibe. I don’t see him going undercover as a junkie, beach bum or personal trainer/male prostitute like he did in the books. Fletch is also a very physical role - he does a lot of climbing, running and fighting in the books - and I’m not sure Hamm’s up to it. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631/24 "2020-07-18T18:29:32Z")
You have a point there, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hamm in a truly physical role. He’s more a lounger than a fighter. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631/25 "2020-07-18T19:01:06Z")
When they say “in the works” I wonder how far along they are. It seems rumors of a new _Fletch_ movie pop up every few years but nothing has materialized. I remember someone (Kevin Smith, maybe?) talking about how for a long time rebooting _Fletch_ has kind of been the holy grail for a lot of comic actors, but no one has been able to make it happen. I read all the _Fletch_ and _Flynn_ \* books back in my youth. I still have the paperbacks on one of my bookshelves. Maybe I’ll start revisiting them this summer. I thought the first Chevy Chase _Fletch_ movie was okay, but he definitely goes too far into clownishness sometimes to really feel like _Fletch_. The second movie just dials up the buffoonery and didn’t feel like _Fletch_ at all. \*Though now I see that there was a later _Flynn_ novel published in 2003 that I haven’t read. I did read the two later _Fletch_ novels with his son and didn’t care for them. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631/26 "2020-07-18T20:10:25Z")
I’ve read nearly all of the Fletch and Flynn books, and own several. (My favorite is _Fletch’s Fortune_.) I’m not a fan of the Chevy Chase version of the character, but I rarely enjoy filmed versions of books I really like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fans-of-the-fletch-books/915631.md?page=1)