The rejuvenation of the murder mystery is well underway, thanks in no small part to Rian Johnson's 2019 blockbuster Knives Out, which delighted audiences and critics alike with a whodunit homecoming. With a sequel due out this year, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, snapped up almost immediately by Netflix, is a new moment in the spotlight for the Agatha Christie-style tale of murder and intrigue. , a genre that had found itself in the shadows of modern cinema, giving way to the rawest and most substantial thrillers.
But the best-selling author has found her way back to cinema, with British stalwart Kenneth Branagh the latest to take on Christie's job in 2017 with Murder on the Orient Express followed by the pandemic (and controversial) hit Death on the Nile. , finally released earlier this year. So it's no surprise to see Disney trying to cash in on the trend with See How They Run, a curious little movie released under the Searchlight Pictures banner.
Director: Tom George
Writer: Mark Chappell
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Sam Rockwell, Harris Dickinson
Set in London's West End in 1953, the murder takes place when Hollywood director Leo (Adrien Brody) meets a grisly end at a party celebrating the 100th performance of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. This very real play would go on to become the longest-running stage play of all time, only temporarily halted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet here we are at the humble beginnings of the production, where a young Richard Attenborough commands the title role and Hollywood's interest in adapting the play for the big screen is causing tension between cast and crew.
As this escalates into a murder, we're soon joined by world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and his future partner, Agent Stalker (Saoirse Ronan). If this sounds a bit familiar, then that's the point. See How They Run is very meta, at times using Brody's narration to navigate well-trodden territory with a tongue-in-cheek twist. Even the flashbacks are marked with a wry nod to the audience's existing knowledge of how these things normally happen. It's all very smart, or at least he thinks so.
All the winks and nods go some way to masking what a poorly constructed plot, and were it not for a genuinely funny opening 20 minutes, with a brilliant Saoirse Ronan cracking up, this might have been one to avoid altogether. . But such is the power of an all-star cast that Ronan, along with an embarrassed Sam Rockwell, and a host of familiar, mostly British faces, do just enough to take this romp halfway. With the goodwill squeezed out of the premise, the cast, and the dazzling costume design, the film's crater is almost bearable, and thankfully, it's not long before the film's "denouement" takes place in an unexpected place, Why do not you do it. Dont have much sense.
At just over 90 minutes, though, the ending comes mercifully quickly, and it's to the film's credit that by sacrificing a cohesive story, it at least loses some of the bloat that sinks in at similar fare.
What See How They Run lacks substance, it tries to make up for it with style, but the film draws too much inspiration from the playbook of Wes Anderson, a filmmaker whose deliberate aesthetic and quirky, quirky comedy can be easily replicated or lampooned, but whose trademark El style has been built up over nearly 30 years of filmmaking. See How They Run may be a more palatable option for those who couldn't get past The French Dispatch, but it lacks the charm of Anderson's back catalogue, the strength of character of classic TV detectives, or even the likable authenticity of recent British shenanigans. . like El Duque or El Fantasma del Abierto.
Sitting somewhere between Branagh's smug Poirot updates and classic country house thriller, the film seems a bit lost. Relying too much on its witty dialogue and flashy looks, it's not strong enough to stand out in a year where Knives Out 2, David O'Russell's star-studded Amsterdam and Helina Reijn's ultra-modern Bodies Bodies Bodies seem ready. to conquer headlines in what has suddenly become a crowded landscape of murders and mysteries. Watchable but ultimately underwhelming, this movie seems destined for the streaming algorithm to see which picture of the cast members gets the most clicks.