Plot: Based on Richard Osman’s international bestselling novel of the same name, The Thursday Murder Club follows four irrepressible retirees – Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce – who spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. When an unexplained death occurs on their own doorstep, their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn as they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands.
REVIEW: The Thursday Murder Club, based on the first in a series of mystery novels, is a wonderfully fun return to form for director Chris Columbus. After helming the first two Harry Potter films, Columbus has directed Rent, Percy Jackson, Pixels, and The Christmas Chronicles 2, none of which lived up to his earlier output like Home Alone or Mrs. Doubtfire. With this Amblin Entertainment-produced film, Columbus imbues fun and energy into a pretty solid mystery centered on a group of British retirees solving crimes. Led by Helen Mirren alongside Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie, The Thursday Murder Club is a far funnier and rousing movie than I anticipated. With great supporting players including Naomi Ackie, Tom Ellis, and David Tennant, The Thursday Murder Club is a solid mystery that is as well-written as it is acted, and it could present a worthy franchise for Netflix.
What works best in bringing The Thursday Murder Club to audiences is that this is not an origin for the titular group, nor a collection of old folks bumbling around. The film opens with retired nurse Joyce Meadowcroft (Celia Imrie) moving into Cooper’s Chase, a retirement village in Southeast England. Learning about her medical knowledge, the club members invite Joyce to help them on a cold case they are working on. Joyce meets de facto leader Elizabeth Best (Helen Mirren), a retired spy, Ron Ritchie (Pierce Brosnan), a former union leader, and Dr. Ibrahim Arif (Ben Kingsley, a psychiatrist. The quartet is working on a case worked on by former member and police officer Penny when an actual murder befalls someone close to Cooper’s Chase. The club pivots its investigation with the help of relocated London cop Donna De Freitas (Naomi Ackie). The suspects begin to mount, including despised Cooper’s Chase co-owner Ian Ventham (David Tennant) and a sinister gangster named Bobby Tanner (Richard E. Grant).
As the body count rises, so do the stakes as the Club members use their skill set to solve the mystery, much to the chagrin of DCI Chris Hudson (Daniel Mays), who oversees the investigation. Each member has pertinent talents that help further the mystery, which also includes local contractors Tony Curran (Geoff Bell) and Bogdan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), Ron’s son Jason (Tom Ellis), and Elizabeth’s husband, Stephen (Jonathan Pryce). Each character gets a reasonable amount of time to shine, especially Mirren and Imrie, who are the dominant focus in the story. Pierce Brosnan, who recently worked with Mirren on Guy Ritchie’s series MobLand, seems to be having a lot of fun in a lighter role, which complements the more reserved demeanor of Ben Kingsley’s Ibrahim. While these actors are older, the film never treats the characters like incapable or doddering, which often surprises the younger characters around them. In some ways, this film resembles Netflix’s comedy series A Man On The Inside, showcasing a detective tale set at a retirement community.
While I would have liked Naomi Ackie’s character to have gotten a bit more to do, I enjoyed her supporting role as she is impressed by these septuagenarians investigating on par with professional detectives. Celia Imrie is a great entry for us into the group, but I never felt like she was as lost as we were led to believe at the start of the film. There is no doubt that this film is yet another impressive showcase for Helen Mirren, with her role blending elements from her characters in the RED and Fast Saga franchises. Mirren is a capable performer in comedy and drama, and her illustrious career, including her Oscar-winning turn in The Queen, has given her a nice nod. Seeing all of these actors sharing the screen, some for the first time, is very cool to watch with no one phoning in their performance in the least.
Adapted from Richard Osman’s novel, Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote inject a lightness and energy into a story that could have been macabre and dark. At times, I almost felt like The Thursday Murder Club could have been watching the protagonists in the Harry Potter films, still getting involved in mysteries well into their golden years. Chris Columbus has long been adept at working with child actors and brings that same touch to working with these screen legends. At no point does The Thursday Murder Club get bogged down in sentimentality or schmaltz, but lets the ensemble have fun solving crimes. While the mystery resolution felt a little too easy, I did not feel like the two hours spent with The Thursday Murder Club was a waste of time. From Thomas Newman’s score to Don Burgess’ crisp cinematography, The Thursday Murder Club looks like a big-screen movie despite debuting on a streaming platform.
A light and fun mystery, The Thursday Murder Club would have been a solid big-screen project back in the pre-COVID days. It is also one of the strongest originals from Netflix in a long time. It may not have explosions or stunt-heavy action, but The Thursday Murder Club is a funny mystery that keeps a whimsical tone as Mirren, Brosnan, Kingsley, and Imrie keep a smile on your face from beginning to end. It is likely a challenge to get anyone under the age of thirty to check out a movie about retired people solving murder cases, but you are definitely missing out if you skip The Thursday Murder Club. With a story every bit as enjoyable as an Agatha Christie yarn with a cast stacked from top to bottom, The Thursday Murder Club is a delightful winner for Netflix and a welcome return to form for director Chris Columbus.
The Thursday Murder Club premieres on August 28th on Netflix.
Source:
JoBlo.com
