Coup de théâtre

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.

It's no wonder, but for me it was worth the time watching. The film is reasonably entertaining, has a cool vibe, and a great performance by Saoirse Ronan, as usual.

It's a relatively short movie, around 1h30, it goes by quickly, it doesn't take much time and it serves as a pastime if you don't have anything else interesting to see.

Despite being a "whodunit", the mystery surrounding the killer itself does not hold much attention, the script is silly and the solution to the case is not impactful at all, what really counts in the film is the fun atmosphere and the actors' performance. Typical movie that in 6 months you won't even remember it properly.

6 out of 10.

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.

This is one of those films that people have rubbished purely because it's primary purpose is to entertain. And that's a great shame, because in these troubled times that's perhaps exactly what people want. A good night out at the cinema.

Saoirse Ronan again proves what a huge career she could go on to have, this time adding light comedy to her range of skills, in this murder mystery caper.

These are ten a penny right now, both on the big and small screen, but 'See How They Run' manages to find its own style, with some clever tricks up its sleeve throughout.

There are lots of big or recognisable faces dotted throughout this fun film, but the stand-outs are Ronan and Sam Rockwell as her superior. I'd actually be happy if this led to another outing for the pair.

Overall, good fun.

This movie had a great potential to be a better one.

It was exciting in the beginning and it kept me entertained as it progressed, till some events happened that were strongly related to the plot and did not make any sense to me. That was disappointing in addition to the movie's ending.

The acting of the main characters was not perfect but was not bad either. There was a lot of sarcastic comedy some throughout the movie of which made me laugh.

I am sad that my rating had to drop from 7 to 6 as I liked the movie but I wish if it was executed in a better way.

After all, it was a fun experience and I do not regret watching it. If you are looking for a silly movie with a mystery to solve, watch it.