See How They Run (2022)
See How They Run may simply be too pleasant to qualify as a serious Oscar contender, but if you’re looking for a crowd pleasing knives out at the theater, this Saoirse Ronan starrer gets the job done nicely.
The movie is a comic murder mystery set in the London theater scene in the early 1950s. The murder in question takes place after a performance of The Mouse Trap, one of Agatha Christie's famous works
The victim is a Hollywood director (Adrien Brody), who has been hired to direct the film. The man has become so hated in such a short time that everyone else involved, from the producer through the screenwriter to the actors, could have a motive for murder.
The case is investigated by tired-looking homicide detective Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), who has a tendency to jump to conclusions, with unintended comedic consequences.
Director Tom George and screenwriter Mark Chappell have managed to concoct a nice little caper, which manages to entertain from start to finish.
See How They Run is full of references to the film and theater world of the 1950s. For example, The Mouse Trap's male lead is Richard 'Dickie' Attenborough (here played by Harris Dickinson), while producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith) is also the man who produced the famous film The African Queen (starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn).
And there are more references that make the film fun for cinephiles. For example, a piece of news that is circulating among the cast of The Mouse Trap is that Grace Kelly has just been cast in Dial M For Murder, which means that she is no longer in the picture for the film adaptation of The Mouse Trap, much to the relief of the female lead of the theater production.
In addition to cinephile jokes, the film also makes some attempts at meta-commentary. For example, screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Ayewolo) advises against using flashbacks, while the film itself contains the necessary flashbacks.
A more serious question is raised towards the end: to what extent do makers have the right to appropriate the suffering of others in order to entertain others (and achieve success themselves)? But as Agatha Christie (a small but fine role by Shirley Henderson) points out: a writer has to write, otherwise he or she is no longer a writer.
Visually, the film is very easy on the eye. See How They Run isn't a big production, but at a time when movies like this often go directly to streaming, it's great to see it in theaters.