The only mystery here is how this tiresome picture got made
With the success of Knives Out and its upcoming sequel The Glass Onion (which will open the Mill Valley Film Festival on Oct. 6th), murder mysteries are back in vogue, and you can’t blame filmmakers for wanting to capitalize on the trend. But just because you can make a murder mystery doesn’t mean you should, and the new British whodunit See How They Run is a case in point.
Tom George, a British director known for TV series and shorts makes his feature film debut here, working from a screenplay by Mark Chappell, a British sitcom writer. That the two come from a television background is no surprise, as their picture is utterly bereft of originality and feels more like an old school, prime time special movie of the week.
Chappell uses the Agatha Christie mystery The Mousetrap as the basis for the story, and, unless you’re a die-hard Christie fan, you may miss a lot of the winking nods and Easter eggs that pepper the film. Two of the characters, for example, Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda) and Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson, Where the Crawdads Sing), are actual real life actors who appeared in the original London Mousetrap run. Not that that matters, though, since even without any knowledge of that play’s history, you’d be hard pressed to enjoy this floundering, dull attempt at a Christie-wanna be.
Set in London’s theater district in 1953, See How They Run tells the tale of Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody), a pompous Hollywood director who wants to adapt the long-running Christie play The Mousetrap into a film. Before he can get started, though, wouldn’t you know it: he’s murdered! Gasp! Who coulda done it!? Don’t worry: Kopernick sticks around to narrate from beyond the grave and introduce us to all the players, who may or may not be involved in his demise.
Working to crack the case are the jaded Inspector Stoddard (Sam Rockwell) and the eager up-and-comer Constable Stalker (Saorise Ronan). Their rapport is easily the film’s only bright spot, as they bring amusing energy and chemistry to the well-worn trope of the weary, cynical detective paired with the fresh-faced newbie. And Rockwell’s rather apathetic attempt at a British accent only serves to echo the blasé tone of the entire picture.
The murder investigation results in a whole host of other overused movie mystery clichés, including split screens, flash backs, flash forwards, red herrings, and, of course, the locked room reveal of the murderer, with loads of exposition, just in case you didn’t guess correctly. While the film seems to want to poke gentle fun at these tiresome techniques, the whole thing plays out instead like an uninspired, quickly dashed-off retread of better movies.
Just as The Mousetrap does, the film ends by imploring viewers not to reveal the murderer’s identity. So don’t worry–no spoilers here. In fact, I know a sure-fire way to make certain what happens on screen stays on screen: skip this picture all together.
—————————-
See How They Run opens today at Bay Area theaters.
