The meta twists and turns of Agatha Christie take-off See How They Run are stylishly spectacular if slightly disposable
“How would Agatha Christie like it if someone took one of her stories and twisted and corrupted it just for the hell of it?”
Directed by Tom George and written by Mark Chappell, meta-mystery See How They Run felt kinda tailored to hit my pursuits – an all-star, theatre-bod-heavy ensemble that includes Ruth Wilson and a twisting narrative set in London’s theatreland and riffing closely on The Mousetrap. So I used to be a bit unhappy that all of it felt a bit a lot ado about nothing for me, slightly too clever-clever quite than actually charming.
It is 1953 and US producer Leo Köpernick is decided to capitalise on the West End present’s success and make a movie adaptation of The Mousetrap however when he’s discovered murdered at a celebration and the solid and crew all fall beneath suspicion, a case presumably extra complicated than even Christie may have conceived emerges. Except she was the queen of homicide mysteries and so you realize she would have performed it higher.
Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell are each nice because the investigating police bods. His Marlowe-esque Inspector Stoppard in stark distinction to her perky Constable Stalker and the Wes Anderson-like vitality that they find yourself projecting is a captivating, if sudden, addition to the movie. And I’ve no objection to movies that show as ephemeral as sweet floss as their pleasures evaporate as quickly because the movie has completed.
So many faces within the ensemble imply that there’s loads of these pleasures. Wilson’s proficient theatre supervisor, David Oyelowo’s prissy author, Reece Shearsmith’s long-suffering producer, Angus Wright, Lucian Msamati, Sian Clifford too. And the movie does look superbly fashionable from prime to backside, it’s simply that the thriller isn’t wherever close to as engrossing as that which it’s making an attempt to spoof. Then once more, not being pretty much as good as Agatha Christie is a destiny suffered by the overwhelming majority of thriller writers. Ultimately, the kind of movie that’s a little bit of diverting enjoyable to observe on Boxing Day.