By Daniel Bennett
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Aside from fashion points, a film’s accessories and styling choices are a great way to show off characterisation. In a movie with a big cast like Confess, Fletch in particular, accessories help distinguish one character from another, among other reasons. An auction featuring authenticated props and costumes was held as part of the film’s marketing. Some of the items featured were the trademark Los Angeles Lakers ballcaps that Hamm’s character wore in the film as an homage to the original 1985 film. In terms of amateur sleuth Fletch, of course, the cap helps highlight his simultaneously clueless and cool personality.
As such, it’s interesting to see what other styling choices in the film made an impact on characterisation. In this post, we’ll look at some other instances throughout the film where accessories helped make the characters.
Fletch
Along with the aforementioned Lakers baseball cap in our introduction, another standout accessory from the film is a specific Rolex watch that Fletch wears. Specifically chosen for the character and the film, the vintage Rolex watch is a Submariner Ref. 1680 from 1978. Aside from character purposes, the watch’s vintage history is also a marker of the timelessly vintage franchise. Interestingly, Robert Redford wore a red Submariner ref. 1680 in 1976’s All the President’s Men — where he portrayed a journalist. Incidentally, in Confess, Fletch, Fletch plays a former investigative journalist turned full-time freelancer, creating a subtle connection between the two characters.
Angela
In the film, Fletch is sent to Boston from Italy by his luxury-clad girlfriend, Angela. Angela’s father is an Italian billionaire count, which explains Angela’s high-class background. Fittingly, in a scene in the film, Angela sports a pair of Prada sunglasses with the famous thick-rimmed and angular hexagonal silhouette of the PR 16WS. It’s a subtle way of showing her character’s eye for the best things in life. Angela becomes a red herring for Fletch as he suspects that she is the one who stole the paintings for another character to sell. Using the standout darkly tinted shades is an excellent way of visually showing (or hiding) Angela’s true face. Of course, the film’s ending reveals that someone else is the real evil in the story. Today, the PR 16WS is also available in honey tortoise frames with brown lenses for anyone who wants to copy Angela’s style in softer colours.
The Contessa
Similarly, another accessory that helps further characterisation in the film is The Contessa’s fancy headscarf. The Contessa, of course, is part of Angela’s high-class circle — a vaguely European and eccentric countess. The headscarf is only one part of her vast headgear collection. In another sequence, The Contessa, played by Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden, wears a peculiar headpiece reminiscent of British royals, with a bold red leopard-print top. In another scene, the Contessa is seen wearing a broad-brimmed sun hat. Again, much like the headscarf, the many head accessories play a subtle but fashionable part in highlighting The Contessa’s seemingly larger-than-life eccentricity.
Of course, while costume and styling choices may often seem like last-minute decisions or mere aesthetic calls, it’s always interesting to take a deeper look at how elements as seemingly visually minor as fashion accessories can help further a film’s story and a character’s arc. In a movie like Confess, Fletch, where so much seems to be happening, these accessories can act as hints to a character’s true motives.
