See How They Run (12A)

At the Ambassadors Theatre in London's glittering West End, cast and crew of a smash hit 1950s play are buzzing with excitement at news that American film producer John Woolf intends to translate their stage hit to the big screen. When a murder victim is discovered on stage, Inspector Stoppard and eager-to-please rookie Constable Stalker arrive at the theatre to solve the case. Everyone is a suspect including the cast, crew and usher Dennis.

LondonNet Film Review

See How They Run (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

During a pithy opening voiceover, a witness to a diabolical crime in London’s glittering West End takes us into their confidence and playfully dismisses the tangled web that screenwriter Mark Chappell is about to spin for our entertainment: “It’s a whodunnit. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all.” This is a rare instance when a character in director Tom George’s comical 1950s-set murder mystery is telling the truth. Chappell’s script openly and affectionately borrows from Agatha Christie, introducing a motley crew of duplicitous suspects, who will try (and fail) to pull the wool over the bloodshot eyes of a detective with their own personal demons…

Knowing winks and smirks are peppered throughout See How They Run, a reference to the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice and the title of Christie’s 1950 short story which inspired the longest running play in the world, The Mousetrap. This is the kind of self-referential, effervescent romp in which a snooty playwright on screen decries flashbacks as “the last refuge of a moribund imagination” directly before a mosaic of recollections to neatly distil the plot. Sam Rockwell retains a firm grasp on a gruff British accent as the hangdog lead detective, contrasting delightfully with Saoirse Ronan’s eager-to-please rookie constable, who always jumps to conclusions and snags some of the best one-liners.

In spring 1953 at the Ambassadors Theatre, cast and crew of The Mousetrap are abuzz with excitement about an impending film version of Agatha Christie’s smash hit play. Producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith) has secured the movie rights through stage impresario Petula Spencer (Ruth Wilson) – with Christie’s blessing – and obnoxious American director Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody) will call the shots on an adaptation penned by pernickety playwright Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo).

A post-show soiree to celebrate the production’s 100th performance degenerates into crustacean-encrusted fisticuffs and a lifeless body is discovered on stage. Metropolitan Police Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Ronan) arrive at the theatre to crack the case. Everyone is a suspect including the play’s stars Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson) and wife Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda), Mervyn’s taxidermist “nephew” Gio (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), Woolf’s devoted assistant Ann Saville (Pippa Bennett-Warner) and theatre usher Dennis (Charlie Cooper). “I’ll never get the hand of this in time for sergeant’s exams,” despairs Stalker.

See How They Run is a frightfully jolly jape that simultaneously venerates and pokes fun at the musty conventions of a murder mystery. Chappell’s script skilfully conflates facts about The Mousetrap and fanciful fiction without ruining the play’s closely guarded secret. The identity of the murderer in George’s immaculately designed picture won’t incite gasps of surprise but there is unabashed fun in the film’s stylish execution and some terrific performances. Nothing is certain but death and Shirley Henderson hungrily scene-stealing the denouement.

– Sarah Lee