See How They Run (2022)

Dir Tom George

Written by Mark Chappell

Saoirse Ronan, Sam Rockwell, David Oyelowo, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson, Charlie Cooper, Shirley Henderson.

In 1952, during the popular run of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap in London, the sleazy American director Leo Köpernick, has been hired for the film adaptation, however he has managed to alienate all those around him – so when he turns up murdered, no one seems to be too upset. Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell) is called to investigate, and is paired with rookie Constable Stalker (Ronan).

Plot wise, it is a traditional whodunit – which is ironic as it set around a play by the legend of whodunit Agatha Christie. Some lines in the film also feel like it is poking fun at itself, and possibly some other adaptations of Christie’s work (some movie adaptations, especially more recent movies have been subpar at best).

So so whodunit, is visually stylish, but lacks substance. The noir like setting is lavish and spectacular – with amazing use of colour – especially in the Ambassador Theatre where the play is featured. The sets and costumes also of sound quality.

The first ten minutes or so are somewhat of a red herring in who the lead star is going to be, the feature itself is filled with so many characters that are a little forgettable (even those based on real people like Commissioner Harold Scott, and producer John Woolf). There were a couple of standout ‘secondary’ characters and they were Dickinson’s Richard Attenborough and Henderson’s Agatha Christie.

The direction was fine too, with some clean direction – however I felt the constant use of split screens was a little excessively used.

The MVP to me was Ronan as the eager to learn Stalker. Her private life is only touched on very briefly, and I think this could have been expanded on further to strengthen her characterisation. Rockwell felt a little miscast, and his accent falters a few times throughout the 99m runtime. Even at less than 100m it does feel like it drags at times.

To me this film was fine, but there is nothing overly astonishing.