First Take: See How They Run - a murder mystery inside of a murder mystery?

SYNOPSIS: In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered.

So how do you get around the legal rights involved in making a version of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap for the big screen while it continues to play on the West End? You have a bit of fun and make an adaptation that involves murders in the theatre where it plays. It might seem incredibly far fetched, but that is one of the charms of See How They Run- it is a murder mystery that isn’t afraid to be a parody of the genre at points. 

This isn’t the fault of Tom George (making his feature directorial debut after helming BBC Three’s This Country), who does an admirable job making a 1 hour 38 minute film out of a script penned by Mark Chappell (another TV veteran, having written the 4th series of ITV’s Cold Feet amongst other things)- it passes the 6 laugh test, but, at times, it does feel a bit too predictable, even with a few stylistic flourishes to keep the big question of ‘who done it?’ hidden until the final act. That isn’t to say that this is a bad thing, as it plays into the nature of this film very well- it isn’t often that a murder mystery resembles a fictional murder played out on a theatre stage. It is shot well by Jamie D Ramsay, and as he always does on any movie he works on, Daniel Pemberton absolutely bosses it on the score.

As for the cast, you have two very talented leads in Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell, and they make the comedic moments work very well, as well as building those two characters pretty decently over the course of the movie; supporting them are Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson (who has the unenviable task of portraying Richard Attenborough) and David Oyelowo. This group do incredibly well as a collective, and without spoiling too much, comparing this to a full blown Agatha Christie story is overselling it a little bit, as it’s a bit of light hearted fun, which given the time this film is opening in the UK, is something we need right now.

THE VERDICT

See How They Run is a perfectly serviceable film considering the current state of the cinema release slate- it has found its audience, which is quite admirable, but it is ultimately one that requires cinemagoers to just relax and enjoy the ride at times. 

RATING: 3.5/5