See How They Run (2022 | US/UK | 98 minutes | Tom George)
A play within a film within a story within a farce, this whodunnit is a maze of silliness and murder. Set in London’s West End in the 50’s, Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap has just hit its 100th stage performance and a film deal is solidly in the works. It’s these actors, writers, directors and film folks that attend the post-performance party in appreciation for the milestone. Narrated in the words of the future film director Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody) who is most hated by all guests in attendance and who also happens to be the victim, the scene is set for a murder most foul. Soon Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) are on the case and their investigation goes sideways, upside down, and backwards with bouts of insanity, slapstick, and confusing murder mystery shenanigans. In the end, we find ourselves at the Christie residence a la Clue as all are gathered to reveal the identity of the murderer.
I wanted so much more for this film and it was teetering on the cusp of greatness. Imagine Wes Anderson meets Knives Out but without the charismatic personalities to charm you and only half the excitement to drive the storyline forward. It was right there, but instead of letting Rockwell shine, they dowsed his enigmatic nature with a down-on-his-luck booze-soaked caricature. I wanted Francis from Mr. Right but instead I got a wet blanket with a bad British accent. Rockwell is a super star in my eyes, his depth of range is enormous and even in something as shallow as Iron Man he was capable of making us hate him on a visceral level.
The same goes for Ronan, she’s shown us that she’s capable of many things and comedy is definitely amongst them, but again it all fell mere inches short of a great performance; where were those dry and deliciously witty lines? It’s almost painful how close they came to the sublime. Considering the incredible cast peppered throughout (ie Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Harris Dickinson, and on and on) it’s hard to believe that it wasn’t a winner from the start but the whole thing had a wet paper bag over it and it seems to fall squarely on the writing and/or the directing. It would not have been difficult to pull a solid performance out of any one of these actors much less as a cast. Maybe that was its downfall; too many incredible actors in one room and they leaned on the idea that they’d work incredibly as an ensemble cast, but instead everything felt muted.
The story itself was fun, the cast’s performances were solid and the finale is interesting enough to see it through. I just can’t in good conscience give it a great review because the potential for something amazing was there, but the climax was just out of reach.
See How They Run arrives in theaters on 9/16.