See How They Run (2022)

September 11, 2022 1:02 PM

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. When world-weary Inspector Stoppard and eager rookie Constable Stalker take on the case, the two find themselves thrown into a puzzling whodunit within the glamorously sordid theater underground, investigating the mysterious homicide at their own peril.
posted by Lorc (9 comments total)

This movie is as bad as its trailer is good
. I had high hopes of snappy dialogue and hijinks, and instead I got a slow, weirdly-paced, sub-Wes Anderson of a movie. Editing and comedic timing? Never heard of it, mate. I don’t know what movie Sam Rockwell was in, but it definitely wasn’t this one. And the superfluous splitscreen… sheesh…

Nevertheless, we must protect Saoirse Ronan at all costs.
posted by adrianhon at 1:33 PM on September 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

I didn't think it was that bad. A solid B. The mystery could be better, the dialogue could be funnier, but it was straight-up "okay" all the way through. My 11-year-old absolutely loved it, though. One of her favorites of all time. For a reasonably clever kid who enjoys the meta-ness and hasn't seen it done better elsewhere, it's a treat.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:11 AM on September 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

Just took myself to this and enjoyed the outing although it's not a good movie. Agree that the trailer is for a screwball comedy and that was what I was hoping for. Instead this has an uneven tone, is dimly lighted and eventually has so many layers it's impossible to know what is trying to do. Like they threw all the possibilities up there and hoped something would gel in editing. Saoirse Ronan acted her ass off and made it worth watching. What a waste of Sam R.
posted by Lookinguppy at 2:45 PM on October 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Saoirse Ronan is adorable and hilarious and she's having fun. I like Sam Rockwell here, although I kind of wish he'd done a slightly more ridiculous accent. They're both charming.

The rest of the cast is great but mostly forgettable. The overall mystery is fine.

I was in the mood to watch this tonight but I did get a bit bored. It's a good Sunday afternoon movie when you're folding laundry or whatever.

It wanted to be smarter than it was but it's fine.
posted by edencosmic at 6:22 PM on November 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Aw, I thought this was fun. It is, I supposed, right up my alley though, so I suppose that’s no surprise. I do admit that it probably wouldn’t have been worth watching without Saoirse Ronan, who really did put in a hell of a performance.

It’s fluff, but it’s fun fluff, and I’d appreciate more movies like this one.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:21 PM on November 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

This movie I felt was too clever what what it was able to pull off. There was a lot I liked and thought was fun. The usage of the screen with two or three different parts was very nice, Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell were good and played off of each other well. Plus the Agatha Christie shoutouts. I loved for instance the appearance of Whitehaven Mansions from the Poirot series.

But the tone was a bit all over the place? It wasn't funny enough to pull off the random death of the Butler, but didn't quite make the murder interesting enough either? I definitely could see it working for people and enjoyed it but didn't love it.
posted by Carillon at 6:27 PM on November 28, 2022

Yeah, honestly I think my biggest complaint is that it wanted to be a Wes Anderson movie but couldn't quite manage to get the balance right? But Saoirse was charming and mostly made it work despite itself. Everyone else was fine and competent, but didn't quite manage to make it land quite as well as Saoirse. Fun Sunday Afternoon popcorn fodder.
posted by Kyol at 6:56 PM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

I thought it was aiming for The Real Inspector Hound more than a straight cozy mystery. Hence all the meta stuff, very Tom Stoppard. I don't think it really landed the absurdity though, it didn't commit. I did giggle at Agatha Christie leaping at the chance to do a bit of murder though.
posted by harriet vane at 6:02 AM on January 1, 2023

This was cute and fun, though admittedly not much more than that. The mystery falls flat, which undercuts the other layers of what its attempting, which is unfortunate. Because as others have said, Saorise Ronan is delightful here, and worth the trip all by herself, really. I hope we get to see her in more fun, funny, light stuff, because she's great at it and it seems to me like it's a bit out of her normal wheelhouse.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:57 PM on August 23, 2023