SEE HOW THEY RUN

In 2019 ‘Knives Out’ managed to create a murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, but updated for the twenty-first century.  It was so successful that it raised the bar for any other film fishing in the same pool, which arguably this 2022 comedy mystery is.  Given that I didn't find it very funny or the murder mystery that interesting, I would say that it fell short by some distance.  

That being said, as an aficionado of the classic age of detective fiction I found it passably entertaining.

It is set in 1952, when Christie's play 'The Mousetrap' has just completed its first 100 performances.  To give it a modern angle the story is narrated by an unlikeable US film director who is going to direct a film adaptation of the play, who then turns out to be the murder victim.  A neat touch is that there is an early flashback in which he visualises how he wants the film to end, complete with action and gunfire, which is then how this film ends.

So there is some cleverness at work here, just not enough, and not enough laughs.  A problem for me is that I didn't much care for the police duo investigating the crime, world-weary    and overly keen   .  In particular Rockwell's downbeat performance  drained the film of comedic energy whenever he was on screen.  .  

There is a strong supporting cast which is largely wasted, especially Ruth Wilson and Reece Shearsmith - I would love to have seen the latter play the lead detective.

Without delving too deeply into the plot of 'The Mousetrap' (I might after all get around to seeing it one day) it seems that this film is right to say that the play was loosely inspired by a real case, so that the motive for the murder is not that farfetched, and it raises a potentially interesting idea about the intersection of art and reality, even if it is not explored, this being a comedy after all.