DAVID ADAMS watches ‘See How They Run’…
See How They Run (M)
In a Word: Playful
Sam Rockwell plays police Inspector Stoppard and Saoirse Ronan plays Constable Stalker in ‘See How They Run’.
More than 100 years after she wrote her first detective novel, Agatha Christie’s stories of murder and mayhem are still entertaining audiences on screens both big and small screen as well as in theatres – a fact that’s central to this latest Christie outing.
Following on the heels of the recent remakes of Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile comes See How They Run, based around Christie’s long-running (and record-breaking) stage play, The Mousetrap.
“Stylish, witty and amusing, See How They Run provides a diverting couple of hours. Just don’t jump to any conclusions before you have all the facts!”
Set in the 1950s as The Mousetrap marks its 100th performance in London (the play actually ran continously in London from 1952 until defeated by COVID in March, 2020 before reopening again last year), See How They Run follows police Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) as, reluctantly accompanied by Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), he investigates the death of the Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody), set to direct a film of the play.
It’s a stellar cast for an atmospheric murder-mystery most definitely not to be taken too seriously with stand-outs including Harris Dickinson as the play’s star “Dickie” Attenborough, Ruth Wilson as theatre impresario Petula Spencer and David Oyelowo in a wonderful performance as the play’s writer Mervyn Cocker-Norris.
There’s plenty of Christie references for fans – and Christie herself, played by an almost unrecognisable Shirley Henderson, even makes an appearance towards the end – and the action moves quickly as the unlikely team of Stoppard and Stalker follow the clues to unmask a killer.
More than that we cannot say – just as audiences attending The Mousetrap are asked to keep mum about the identity of the killer, so too are we in the film so instructed.
Stylish, witty and amusing, See How They Run provides a diverting couple of hours. Just don’t jump to any conclusions before you have all the facts!
Clarification: Leo Kopernick’s role in the film has been amended.
