“It’s a whodunit. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all!”
In my opinion, nothing truly hits better than an Agatha Christie murder mystery. The endless twists and turns. The constant wave of finger pointing. The thrills as you read, or watch, her works are endless. And if you’ve been able to experience that, count yourself lucky. Lately, Christie’s incredible stories have been fully immersed into the world of cinema—most recently with Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022). But See How They Run takes a more humorous approach, which I credit Rian Johnson’s 2019 Knives Out with blending a classic genre with a modern flair. And I can assume it only get better with his sequel Glass Onion set to be released later this year.
See How They Run is set around Christie’s play, The Mousetrap, which is the longest running play in history—taking only a short pause during the pandemic. The play began its run in London’s West End in 1952 to overwhelming success. Now for a bit of fiction, as we jump into the evening of its 100th performance. The cast of misfit characters celebrate the play while looking towards future success—especially in film. That’s where our narrator, director Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody) comes into play. He’s an ugly person, whose very words drip with toxicity. But nonetheless, he’s been tapped to direct the film version of Mousetrap.
Köpernick was blacklisted in Hollywood and therefore must find work anywhere in London. His narcissism is often too much to take as the people he interacts with can’t bear to be in the same room with him. While the play is famous and well liked, Köpernick boasts as to haven’t even seen the play. “It’s a whodunit. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all!” And just like any old whodunit—like clockwork—Köpernick is found dead on stage. Right on cue, similar to any Christie novel, Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and his methodical partner, Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), are on the case to solve the murder of the unlikable Mr. Köpernick. The two gather the suspects into the theater, and so our murder mystery begins…
The premise of See How They Run is simple enough. And maybe Köpernick is right in the regard that “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” However, there’s something delightfully charming with this film. Our characters, while something particularly vile about them in one way or another, can bring out a laugh or two while dodging the police’s ongoing questions. While I do wish there’d be more prominent interactions with David Oyelowo or Ruth Wilson’s characters, the majority of the laughs rested with Rockwell and Ronan.
In an odd way, this was the British take on a buddy cop movie more than anything. The chemistry between Rockwell and Ronan is undeniably great. The way they bounce each witty jab off one another is perfection. But to be honest, and I was pleasantly surprised by this, Ronan comes out the funnier of the two. Rockwell, due to his character’s closed-in demeanor, is more withdrawn with his humor—giving Ronan full range to let loose with her hilarious quips.
See How They Run is best put as a Wes Anderson type whodunnit. It isn’t without its hiccups, but with its clever witticisms, in the most British fashion, and it’s constant barrage of twists, this film will satisfy your need when looking to watch something light, happy, and fun.
See How They Run
Directed by: Tom George
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, David Oyelowo, Ruth Wilson, Harris Dickinson, Charlie Cooper, Tim Key, Pearl Chanda, and Sam Rockwell
Rating: B
Little Movie Reviews 