I watched an odd little film yesterday afternoon on Max:
"See How They Run", starring Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan.
Premise: A murder has been committed in 1953 during the 100th performance celebration of "The Mousetrap" in London. The victim was planning a film version of the play. Many in the cast were very upset, as were many of the production staff.
Rockwell was the detective assigned to investigate, and Ronan as the police corporal who assisted him.
This should have been FUN. What it was is STILLBORN. Production values are splendid. All the British accents are spot on. I kept waiting for that spark that engages me. It never got near the flint, sad to say.
It's not terrible, it's just blah. It's not Christie, but it's well paced and does not lack anything but that which makes mysteries fun. No humor, no drama, no mystery.
Sam Rockwell is my absolute favorite actor right now, and he looks the part, acts the role he was given. But dueling windmills won't win any battles.
As many here already know, "The Mousetrap" continues to be London's longest running play although it's minor Christie in all respects. More than 10 million people have seen the play in the theater in London, thus far.
FWIW: "See How They Run" is also the title of an English comedy in three acts by Philip King. Its title is a line from the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". It is considered a farce for its tense comic situations and headlong humor, heavily playing on mistaken identity, doors, and vicars. I played a vicar (the Reverend Lionel Toop) in one production when I was in college, and, as president of the little theater group, I produced a version in Naples, Italy, in 1976.
