'The Thursday Murder Club' review: Netflix thriller struggles to entertain
What's the story
Netflix's The Thursday Murder Club, adapted from Richard Osman's namesake book, is a vapid murder mystery that struggles to find its voice. It is headlined by British cinema heavyweights Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie, and David Tennant, but the cast can't save the sluggish screenplay. The film starts well and is mildly engaging, but not everything comes together at the end.
Plot
Can four crime-obsessed friends solve a murder?
Directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone), the film follows four seniors at a retirement home. Amaeteur sleuths Elizabeth (Mirren), Ron (Brosnan), and Ibrahim (Kingsley) form a murder club to discuss and solve old murder mysteries, and later recruit Joyce (Imrie). When the co-owner of their retirement home, Tony Curran (Geoff Bell), is shockingly murdered, the group races against time to find the murderer.
#1
What a fine ensemble!
With The Thursday Murder Club, the makers have pulled off a casting coup, bringing together actors with decades of experience under their belt. Though Tennant has limited screentime, he delivers a deliciously villainous performance in this tailor-made role. Lucifer star Tom Ellis and Game of Thrones actor Jonathan Pryce also play small but important roles that are pivotal to the narrative.
#2
Struggles to keep you hooked
Even the combined talents of the ensemble, sadly, cannot save this lackluster film that desperately needed more spark. The story becomes needlessly convoluted as it advances, and the film ties itself up in knots the moment it shows any ambition. The Thursday Murder Club wants to entertain and engross you, but it's always on a wobbly, uncertain path, falling into bits and pieces gradually.
#3
Too many characters harm the story
As the narrative moves forward, more subplots and secondary characters are added, and they do nothing but wear the story down. We also needed more background information about the four leads to understand them and their ambitions better, but Columbus keeps them at a distance from us. When we aren't even drawn to this world, how can we care about the characters?
#4
It cannot consistently maintain its thrilling tone
While the opening sequence is engaging and Tony's murder intrigues you somewhat, the film mostly grasps at straws overall. It struggles to keep the thrill intact; there are convenient discoveries and resolutions, and you must suspend your disbelief completely. The British humor is a hit and a miss, and though the movie is only two hours long, it seems to drag on forever.
Verdict
'Thursday Murder Club' is a disappointing affair; 2/5 stars
There's a certain sense of warmth and camaraderie between characters that works in the movie's favor, but sadly, it doesn't last long. It becomes too complicated for its own good and branches off in different directions, unsure of the path it wants to take. The Thursday Murder Club bursts with promise, but fizzles out much before the finish line. 2/5 stars.