Brooks on Books: Fletch Won

I recently read this and enjoyed it, much as I did "Fletch," Gregory McDonald's original novel with the characters, so the late author is 2 for 2 with me so far. Anyone familiar with the Fletch books knows the hallmarks: Wise-ass lead character, few descriptive passages, tons of dialogue.

But even those not familiar with the novels may know these things, and to that list we can add that they know Kevin Smith loves them and wants (wanted?) to bring them to film. It looks like that project is dead, but IMDB lists another one in development. The saga of bringing snappy investigative journalist I.M. Fletcher back to the big screen has taken a lot of detours, to the point where I can't figure out where the hell it stands at the moment.

If a new film doesn't come out soon, it'll be a shame because in the right hands it should be a winner. I kept thinking while reading "Fletch Won," "Hey, this could totally be a decent flick." Fletch investigates a dead attorney and winds up encountering a "fitness club" and all kinds of colorful characters. McDonald includes a lot of sharp commentary on the legal system (the way a lawyer friend explains how his big firm works is hilarious) and the police, and a screenplay that could capture that and not just be a string of wise-ass remarks for the title character could really be something.

Plus, "Fletch Won" is the first of the books in chronological order of the character (McDonald jumped around and did prequels and sequels), so no worries about interfering with the previous Fletch movies.

And why do we need to interfere with those movies, anyway? I never found the Chevy Chase Fletches that great. Turns out the second, "Fletch Lives," isn't an adaptation, and nobody likes that one. But the original "Fletch" movie has quite a following. I rewatched it after reading its source material of the same name, the first McDonald wrote. Yeah, the movie=not so great. Chevy Chase is Chevy Chase, for better or worse, and he wears some goofy costumes and says funny things, but many plot elements are different, and besides, a lot of the best-remembered bits and lines aren't in the book, either. So it's not a faithful adaptation, even if you do consider Chase's interpretation of the character definitive.

I think it's a great role for a young actor to come in and knock one out of the park. Who cares about competing with memories of Chase? That was years ago. Maybe we don't even need a young actor. Kevin Smith's stated goal was to cast Jason Lee, and I can see that working. I'll give lots of guys a chance in this part, as long as they're not Ryan Reynolds.

You get the elements of comedy, mystery, plenty of ground for sequels, and even some name recognition. Looks to me like a decent film property if someone can get it going.