George’s balancing act is deftly achieved while allowing the bulk of the film to rest on the shoulders of its two leads whose on screen chemistry is utterly charming. It’s 1952 and Agatha Christie’s long running theatrical staple The Mousetrap has just started its extraordinary run in London. Apart from a Covid blip, it’s been on stage for as long as Queen Elizabeth II has been on the world stage as the reigning monarch… In fact the play will effortlessly outlast the recently deceased Queen. If you’ve seen the original play or know of its narrative, there are many Easter eggs tucked away in the film. And I ‘suspect’ (ahem) See How They Run will effortlessly reward a second viewing.

It’s 1952 in the West End, London’s famous theatre district. An obnoxious American film director, Leo Köpernick (a very believably crass Adrien Brody) is in town preparing to shoot a movie adaptation of the Agatha Christie play. Almost everyone he comes into drunken contact with has a reason to despise him (so far, so very Christie). In fact to ram home this point, the soon to be dead man gives us a running and fourth wall breaking commentary on how the whodunit actually works and why it’s such a cliché even in 1952. A brief aside; I worked with a director some years back whose young son was reading the TV listings and after seeing the Peter Ustinov starring Murder on the Orient Express, he turned and earnestly asked his father “What’s a Whod Unit?” Köpernick is despatched by an unknown assailant in a felt hat and a dark overcoat. This basic description manages to refer to almost everyone in England at the time. As a panicked and injured Köpernick struggles to get away, all that comes to hand are theatrical props that break harmlessly as he attempts to throw anything at his attacker. There’s a lovely moment as he gets to the door marked ‘Exit’, throws it open only to be greeted by a brick wall. Welcome to the theatrical world of smoke and mirrors. And murder by blunt force sewing machine trauma is a pretty original way to go. His bloody corpse is dumped on to the sofa of the main drawing room set of the play bringing the cast and managers into the matter who seem to cheerfully accept its presence as they all squabble about whether the play should go on.

Enter the Metropolitan Police in the form of two very diverse coppers. The worn down, semi-lush Inspector Stoppard (a name aligning with the playwright/play milieu, as Tom Stoppard wrote The Real Inspector Hound) and rookie Constable Stalker. Actors Sam Rockwell and Saorsie (‘Sirsha’) Ronan double down hard into their respective characters and form a delightful duo posted at both ends of the police cliché line, the seen-it-all cynic and the garrulous tyro trying hard not to make a fool of herself and wanting to learn as much as she can before she takes her Sergeant’s exams. Rockwell has some serious comic chops. His whiney ‘red shirt’ character in Galaxy Quest is a highlight. Here he’s hard-boiled, laconic, often drunk but ultimately (of course) smart enough to get to the bottom of the mystery. Ronan complements him perfectly as squeaky clean, her uniform a perfect fit and always immaculate. A movie lover, she also has the handy habit of writing everything down so anything can be recalled with no epic feats of memory. She also takes things way too literally born of inexperience but in so doing gets some of the widest smiles in the film as well as a few laughs. One of my favourite one liners was the reason I chose to see the film in the first place. In The Mousetrap, the inspector arrives with skis which are the first weapon used against Köpernick. Ronan remarks “That’s the ski he took to the face, Sir. It was all downhill from there.” The crime-busting duo are faced with a terrific line up of possible suspects, the cream of British thespian talent.

Despite a significant lack of screen time (the film clocks in at a crisp 98 minutes), each actor does great work with what little they have. Luther’s favourite villain and His Dark Materials’s Marisa Coulter, Ruth Wilson, is all business and deal-making as producer Petula Spencer. The stars of the play (in reality Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim in the 50s, both of whom enjoyed a long marriage) are played by Harris Dickinson and Pearl Chanda. Dickinson manages to evoke the spirit of the actor then most famous for playing the young gangster Pinkie in Brighton Rock. Brody’s theatrical villain director always fizzes in flashbacks and it’s great to see Reece Shearsmith on the big screen as studio head John Woolf. His Papa Lazarou creation for The League of Gentlemen will haunt me forever after just two short appearances. Having a whale of a time as the affected screenplay writer, the splendidly named Mervyn Cocker-Norris, is David Oyelowo whose scenes pop with his colourful costumes, an unusual ever-angry live in house guest and his brimming insecurity towards the measly extent of his own talent. Charlie Cooper as Dennis turns in a dry, imbecilic performance (his witness statement will raise a smile).

Now then, a point of style. I have never, ever been convinced by the split screen technique of imparting information on screen. I was heartened in seeing the aspect ratio, a 1950s Academy ratio but maybe my eyes were playing tricks as the IMdb says it’s the standard 1.85:1. But whatever the ratio, showing double screens while seeing characters doing things simultaneously will never replace the craft and art of editing at doing the same thing but never being as distracting as split scenes. While I could follow the narrative quite nicely, there’s something about split screens that scream “You are watching a movie!” Maybe it’s just me. See How They Run is also hyper self-aware employing a whole host of knowing tropes and clichés that then fold in on themselves. Not all of these work. You can only wink so many times. Screenwriter Mervyn drones on about how narratively redundant flashbacks are while we cut to or are actually in one. The lively and period specific score by Daniel Pemberton is a blast. Has the double base plucking always been connected with detecting in the 50s? But it is a terrific and appropriate accompaniment to a film that tries hard (and mostly succeeds) at balancing character comedy, whodunit suspense and thrills. Do you need a 98 minute escape from the mess this country seems to have landed itself in? Then take in the exploits of Stoppard and Stalker and relax.

* https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/see-how-they-run-cast-interview/