See How They Run (2022)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

See How They Run (2022) – T. George

I watched this on an airplane when I was too tired to watch anything more substantive. Even so, the film left me feeling that I’d probably wasted my time. I’m sure it sounded great in the pitching process: A postmodern self-aware take on Knives Out and the latest craze for Agatha Christie styled whodunnits that actually finds its murder victim in the theatre that houses Christie’s long-running play The Mousetrap in 1950s London (and features the Dame herself as a character). And on top of that, let’s do it in the style of Wes Anderson! Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan do their noble best as the detectives on the case and the result isn’t necessarily a bad film; let’s just say it is a superfluous film.  Apart from victim Adrien Brody who goes over-the-top as a film director hired to adapt the play, most of the cast plays things straight while also delivering ironic lines and plentiful “easter eggs” that reward those who know the Agatha oeuvre. The film delights in teasing the audience by revealing elements from the adaptation of The Mousetrap that later turn out to be relevant to the “real” case too.  Rockwell might act like a less buffoonish Inspector Clouseau but he actually solves the case, more or less, although not without the help of Ronan, despite her willingness to jump to conclusions. As a fan of the old Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan series of the 30s and 40s, I wouldn’t have minded having all of the suspects gathered into a room and the killer identified by our detectives – but this film tries too hard to mock the old conventions (and play by them too). A trifle (but Saoirse Ronan is certainly engaging).