Monk, le retour

I'm a die-hard Monk fan and eagerly awaited this movie. However, I was disappointed to see the depressive turn the writers took with Monk's character. As another reviewer wrote, I too would have loved to see Monk embracing how the world dealt with germs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Monk gleefully witnessing the world wearing masks, using sanitizers amd wipes would have been hilarious. It seemed as if the writers weren't aware of the subtle nuances that make Monk "Monk". All in all, It was an enjoyable hour and a half. I loved seeing the old crew back together but it definitely missed its mark.

Well, I hope this won't be the last case for Adrian Monk. It's been so long since the series ended and it was a sheer joy to see the whole gang back together again.

Tony Shalhoub is such an underrated actor. He pitches everything just right and it's as if he has never been away for so long. He retains the quirkyness, the awkwardness and some great humour.

The plot is good, James Purefoy makes a good baddie and the supporting gang all do a great job. Jason Gray-Stanford (Disher) chips in with some hilarious attempts to solve the case, too.

So while i understand that Shalhoub might not want to get involved with another Monk series, I do hope he'll agree to do the occasional movie.

Tony Shalhoub is now 70 years old, I most recently enjoyed him in 'Mrs Maisel' where he plays a character with similar issues. But not nearly as OCD as Adrian Monk. This movie really offers not much new, it even includes most of the old TV series cast members.

But that is not a bad thing, in fact it is a good thing. It is familiar, we don't need to get used to a whole host of new characters. This movie, at just over 90 minutes, is as good and entertaining as the typical 'Monk' TV show.

There is a death, made to look accidental, but some things just don't add up. It is a bungee jump gone wrong, the cord is six feet too long, but the experienced jumper is very meticulous in constructing his cord. "Measure twice and cut once" is his approach. (As it turns out I figured out pretty quickly how the crime was likely committed and it turned out I was right.)

So most of the second half of the movie is seeing how Monk will gather and piece together clues. His interaction with other characters is as much fun to watch.

No, this isn't a great or innovative movie but it is entertaining if you like 'Monk.' My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Peacock.

While one review here says that nostalgia is causing people to overrate this TV movie, I'm inclined to think that it's making people underrating it, because they're forgetting that, as funny and brilliant as the show could be, and as great as Tony Shalhoub was, the series always flawed and towards the end could be genuinely bad.

In the movie, Monk, an brilliant ex-detective with diagnostically fuzzy OCD is at the end of his always short rope. But when murder happens close to home (I really hate "this time it's personal" plot lines, but what can you do?) Monk comes out of retirement for what he's determined to be one last time.

As always, Monk unsteadily treads the line between character-driven comedy and cartoonish laughs. Monk sometimes responds as someone trapped in a world of obsessions, and sometimes just acts like a weird two-year-old having a freak-out.

In short, the movie, like the series is sometimes smart, and sometimes irretrievably dumb.

The mystery itself is decent though unexception - I figured it out way before Monk. The returning characters are decent although underutilized (except Randy, who is overutilized). The new characters are bland and add nothing, which is unfortunate.

Shalhoub, though, is still great, and his dry, anguished weirdness is still funny, even if it is the same shtick he's always done.

If you're expecting more than an overlong episode of the series then you'll be disappointed, but if you just want to see one more episode of Monk, this is worthwhile.

I am a Monk fan and Tony Shalhoub didn't disappoint. He was, as always, a delight to watch. But most of the other actors were mediocre, especially McGee, whose grief was not at all convincing. Even Ted Levine was unconvincing in his conflict of interests. The story had such a great potential if each actor had tackled into it and had taken their role as seriously as Shalhoub. Except for Monk's wife, everyone seemed to be there just to create a background for Monk.

I earnestly hope this is not Monk's last case, not only because I will gladly watch more of Monk any time but also because he deserves a better "last case," if there has to be one.