See How They Run

I don't know if it's the cozy cinematography, the many tracking shots, or two actors that have been in a lot of his films, but this movie has a real whimsical, wholesome, Wes Anderson vibe to it and I liked it. Saoirse Ronan is incredibly cute and comical in her role as a apprentice cop learning the trade and trying to solve the mystery. Her puns in the beginning are pretty funny, and she just has such a sweet aura throughout that weirdly fits with the movie.

The film moves at a leisurely pace, almost like a British afternoon tea on a rainy day. Or drinking hot cocoa while watching an Agatha Christie murder mystery as the snow falls outside. That kind of vibe, and I'm here for it.

Oh, and we get to see Adrien Brody in a Grand Budapest Hotel-like rich jerk role, and it's pretty great.

I try to avoid trailers and promos so much so that I thought this was going to be a movie involving trains somehow like a biopic of whoever invented them, all I knew was Saoirse Ronan was in it. She was one of the few upbeat characters in it so she lit up the screen whenever she was on.

It's a movie that talks about itself throughout, it's a whodunnit film and as mentioned in the movie, once you see one you've seen them all. The plot of the movie is the plot of the theatre play and movie, that's inside the movie, so when a clue is revealed in one story you know it's the same for the other.

It's suspenseful throughout but not really engaging enough to keep you on your seat. You're not really invested in any of the characters unless you're already a fan of the actors playing them, which I was. I've seen it compared to "knives out" but I don't think it's that good. Nothing really special about it because it just doesn't click, feels like it's supposed to though. There's a lot of funny bits that carry the film, but those feel like an accessory, not actually what the movie is supposed to be about, just something to elevate it. It's meant to be a mystery but the mystery doesn't do much.

It's made to be pretty simple and quirky, I think it would've been better if it took itself a little more seriously and maybe slowed down a bit. Funny and 1950's retro so there's things to love about it, but confused about what's it's meant to be so it feels all over the place.

Q. When is too much split screen too much?

A. See How They Run.

I was so looking forward to this that i can't help feeling a tinge of disappointment. Towards the end of See How They Run, i was feeling almost nauseous with the use of split screen. It's every 5 minutes, and i'm not joking.

The movie thinks it's a lot cleverer than it is (telling us how the movie will end, the clever wink winks all the time). Some of the humour is great, mostly involving Saoirse Ronan who shows she's gifted in physical comedy and slapstick as well as everything else she puts her mind too.

The movie, for a whodunit, fails to fill the story with credible suspects and towards the end i had mostly lost interest in who the murderer was even going to be. Adrien Brody is great for the amount of screen time he receives but whenever he, Sam Rockwell or Saoirse aren't on screen, the movie drags.

Tom George's direction isn't the best and it makes me wonder what the film could look like if in better hands. Outside of the split screen issues, quick cuts are another constant but just makes me think of better directors and the lifting Tom George is taking from superior movies.

I went in to this hoping for another Knives Out but sadly this is nowhere near it.

I found this a really novel and almost throwback film with loads of great laughs and twists but never takes itself too seriously.

There is a really good cast with great characters, all bringing different things to the film. Having real life characters add something to the film as well.

I laughed a lot during the film with some of the characters and some of the jokes being very well done.

Its a reminder that there can be a great film made without the need for huge amounts of cgi, huge budgets and massive casts. This is just well written, well portrayed and with brilliant camera work, and just works really well.

It doesn't pretend to be high art. It's silly and enjoyable and was the equivalent of enjoying a good piece of cake - pleasurable but soon forgotten.

The performances are good and we loved the butler at the end. We could even guess some of the lines and also the ending, but it didn't matter. Yes, there were Wes Anderson type moments and yes, the make up and hair was wrong for the the period for Saoirse Ronan, and there was an absence of smoke in the pub etc it's supposed to be 1950s England... but I guess it was going for theatrical rather than realism.

If you want an easy going film that makes you laugh and smile - this is the film. (And so much better than the remakes of Agatha Christie)