I knew nothing about See How They Run until I watched the trailer on Disney+ shortly after it was released on streaming. I knew the film had only recently been in cinemas and wondered how it had come to streaming so fast, but I took a look at the trailer, and it looked like a fun time, a parody of the murder mystery of sorts. I liked the look of the cast too, plenty of names I knew and like…so why not? I do after all love a good whodunit.
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is celebrating its one-hundredth performance London’s West End and a party is thrown in its honour. Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody) is a Hollywood director who has just signed on to direct the film adaptation of the play, but his unpleasant demeanour quickly gets him killed. Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronin) are called in to investigate the murder and find the killer, all whilst life imitates art in the most peculiar fashion.
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is celebrating its one-hundredth performance London’s West End and a party is thrown in its honour. Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody) is a Hollywood director who has just signed on to direct the film adaptation of the play, but his unpleasant demeanour quickly gets him killed. Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronin) are called in to investigate the murder and find the killer, all whilst life imitates art in the most peculiar fashion.
I think the biggest praise I can give See How They Run is that it’s funny. Within minutes of the film starting I was giggling, and frequently throughout I found I had a big smirk on my face and was frequently chuckling. A lot of this comes from the chemistry and comic timing between Rockwell and Ronin, the former a jaded old timer who would rather sneak off to the pub mid-shift than actually investigate, and the latter a bright-eyed rookie who writes down literally everything. See How They Run is not new, it doesn’t re-invent the whodunit formula, and there are no surprises in store for those paying attention. But what it does have is humour and it has it in spades.
In fact, I honestly felt that I was watching a Wes Anderson film at times, it had that kind of feel to it what with the fast dialogue, impeccable set design and costuming, and the style of humour. This is director Tom George’s first feature film, having previously worked on BBC dramas and whilst I haven’t seen any of his previous work, I think he’s going to be someone to watch if this is his signature style.
The all-star cast do deliver strong performances, but they’re all dwarfed by those of Rockwell and Ronin who truly are a delight to watch. In fact, I would love to see the two of them tackle more murder cases together in future films as I think they really did steal the show. I did find Shirley Henderson’s brief appearance as Agatha Christie absolutely brilliant though and it was the cherry on top of the whole thing for me.
This is a much shorter review than I normally write, and I think it’s because See How They Run doesn’t do an awful lot new. I mean this is a classic murder mystery right down to it literally being a riff on Christie’s Moustrap. But what makes it worthwhile is Rockwell and Ronin’s excellent performances and some hilarious gags. It’s certainly not one of the best films of the year, in fact I’ll probably have forgotten all about it in a week or two, but I had a great time whilst I was watching it and really, I think that’s all you need in a film sometimes. One hundred minutes of pure silliness that had me giggling like a child, not since the days of Monty Python has a film given me this feeling.
In fact, I honestly felt that I was watching a Wes Anderson film at times, it had that kind of feel to it what with the fast dialogue, impeccable set design and costuming, and the style of humour. This is director Tom George’s first feature film, having previously worked on BBC dramas and whilst I haven’t seen any of his previous work, I think he’s going to be someone to watch if this is his signature style.
The all-star cast do deliver strong performances, but they’re all dwarfed by those of Rockwell and Ronin who truly are a delight to watch. In fact, I would love to see the two of them tackle more murder cases together in future films as I think they really did steal the show. I did find Shirley Henderson’s brief appearance as Agatha Christie absolutely brilliant though and it was the cherry on top of the whole thing for me.
This is a much shorter review than I normally write, and I think it’s because See How They Run doesn’t do an awful lot new. I mean this is a classic murder mystery right down to it literally being a riff on Christie’s Moustrap. But what makes it worthwhile is Rockwell and Ronin’s excellent performances and some hilarious gags. It’s certainly not one of the best films of the year, in fact I’ll probably have forgotten all about it in a week or two, but I had a great time whilst I was watching it and really, I think that’s all you need in a film sometimes. One hundred minutes of pure silliness that had me giggling like a child, not since the days of Monty Python has a film given me this feeling.