Chris Columbus directed some of the most memorable movies of the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s, including “Adventures in Babysitting”, “Home Alone” and its “Lost in New York” sequel, “Mrs. Doubtfire” and the first two “Harry Potter” installments. 10 years ago I covered the red carpet for the NYC premiere of his ‘video games come to life’ action comedy “Pixels”, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad. Columbus’ latest film has another all-star cast, including Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, Jonathan Pryce and Richard E. Grant.
Steven Spielberg and his company Amblin acquired the film rights to the book “The Thursday Murder Club” in early 2020, shortly after the release of “Knives Out”. Rian Johnson’s murder mystery comedy that has spawned two follow-ups (“Wake Up Dead Man” will be on Netflix in December) revived the genre and opened the door to stories beyond the works of Agatha Christie. “TTMC” primarily stars actors of a certain age, but I’m not sure if that same audience demo will fall in love with the film adaptation.
Seniors at an England retirement center may be kicked out of their home by an ‘evil’ developer. When a key player involved in the deal is found dead, a group of curious residents (who call themselves “The Thursday Murder Club”) take it upon themselves to figure out who did it. They take this task very seriously — maybe a little too seriously. If you’re expecting the same joyful ensemble vibe of recent Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda pictures (“Book Club”, “80 For Brady”, “Summer Camp”), unfortunately, this crew can’t live up to that.
There are some attempts at humor in “TTMC”, but mostly early on and not many overall. (I only chuckled twice.) It just doesn’t look like these actors are having a genuinely good time, and therefore neither are we. As Elizabeth, Mirren channels her work in the “Red” films and “Eye in the Sky”, so the way she approaches this role isn’t very surprising.
The script is quite talky and descriptive, even for a mystery picture. There are WAY too many characters involved, names to keep track of, and complex plot developments that result in an overwhelming and overly matter of fact experience. I wanted to stick it out to see if it all made sense in the end. Eventually we get there, but at no point was the experience fun or exciting. ‘Monotone’ and ‘flat’ are the true discoveries.
LCJ GRADE: C-
Running Time: 118 min.