Check out what critics have had to say about the newly released film starring Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan.
The Guardian: **** “There’s a very entertaining daftness and theatre nerdery to See How They Run (the title sounds uncomfortably like Run For Your Wife) as director Tom George takes the same approach to The Mousetrap that Ken Russell took to The Boyfriend: playing up the artificiality of it all. The comedy is shallow in the right way, and Rockwell’s bleary world-weariness contrasts nicely with Ronan’s saucer-eyed idealism.”
Den of Geek: **** “The cast is ace but props should absolutely go to Mark Chappell’s wily script. With See How They Run he has ingeniously woven together real theatre history, an absolute reverence for Agatha Christie and her play, a cunning murder mystery that’ll keep you guessing, a fun, cheeky exploration of movie tropes that plays out in a wonderfully satisfying manner, and, yes, almost certainly the closest you’re ever going to get to an actual adaptation of The Mousetrap on screen, including a nod to the highly successful ‘don’t spoil the ending’ marketing of that play.”
The Telegraph: **** “Director Tom George’s star-studded, knowing, very funny new whodunit does for Agatha Christie what Scream did for the slasher movie.”
Empire: **** “Mark Chappell’s screenplay does a nifty job of affectionately embroidering the story’s madcap malarkey with real nuggets pulled from British film and theatre lore.”
Slant: ** 1/2 ” Jaime Ramsay’s cinematography is jewel-box pretty and the sparkling production design is enjoyably luxe, working overtime to make postwar London look glamorous. Some of the framing and attempted whimsy might be faux-Anderson, but as in the real thing the narrative pacing and the performers’ committed enthusiasm helps rush the viewer right past any such distractions. A pleasant trifle, See How They Run breaks little new ground but is at least a notable improvement on, well, The Mousetrap.”
The Upcoming: **** “Perhaps the movie will not be remembered as a masterpiece, but it’s fun, quirky, full of style and aesthetically charming. It also boasts a strong cast alongside Rockwell and Ronan, including Adrien Brody, David Oleyowo, Ruth Wilson and Harris Dickinson, who keep the entertainment alive in every scene. Although it doesn’t present anything new or original, the stylishness and the comedic tone of the film are the qualities that make it a little gem that’s undeniably a pleasure to watch.”
The Independent: *** “It’s an equal-parts concoction of Rian Johnson’s wry, self-aware Knives Out and the aristocratic romanticism of Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptations. And if its ambitions towards broad likeability weren’t already obvious enough, the film’s caked in the Wes Anderson aesthetic – obsessive symmetry, bright palettes, French New Wave-inspired camera trickery.”
The Observer: **** “the true comedy turn is the delicious partnership of Sam Rockwell, as weary, booze-addled Inspector Stoppard (with a touch of Jack Dee about him), and Saoirse Ronan, excellent as uniformed rookie Constable Stalker, a naive Irish cinephile who can’t stop talking and noting everything down.”
The Times: ** “Saoirse Ronan has many performance modes. The Oscar-nominated actress can do heavy, sombre and internalised work that mostly comes from the eyes, such as her role as the lovelorn Eilis in Brooklyn, or the tragically disappointed Florence in On Chesil Beach. She can dial it up a notch with the busy, giddy verbal diarrhoea of Christine McPherson in Lady Bird or Jo March in Little Women. And occasionally she can even bring something slightly more cartoonish to life, such as her Wes Anderson caricatures in The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch. What she cannot do, however, no matter the depth and range of her talent, is shoulder the burden of an entire film’s success”
Digital Spy: ***** “Each actor is perfectly cast, and each role is skilfully executed, exuding all the fussy glamour of the 1950s and striking a delicate balance between slapstick humour and British-reservedness. It’s almost impossible to pick a stand out in this cast of greats, and there isn’t a weak link nor moment.”
NME: **** “Echoing that Spike Jonze-Charlie Kaufman classic Adaptation, See How They Run gets quite meta as the final act comes to emulate the form of The Mousetrap. It even draws from the very origins of the show, although when it starts to get too serious, the narrative wobbles like a cheap theatrical set. But if you’re looking for a good-old fashioned romp, stylishly made and frequently hilarious, this ticks all the boxes. Case closed.”
See How They Run is in cinemas now.