Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie

Well, I hope this won't be the last case for Adrian Monk. It's been so long since the series ended and it was a sheer joy to see the whole gang back together again.

Tony Shalhoub is such an underrated actor. He pitches everything just right and it's as if he has never been away for so long. He retains the quirkyness, the awkwardness and some great humour.

The plot is good, James Purefoy makes a good baddie and the supporting gang all do a great job. Jason Gray-Stanford (Disher) chips in with some hilarious attempts to solve the case, too.

So while i understand that Shalhoub might not want to get involved with another Monk series, I do hope he'll agree to do the occasional movie.

Tony Shalhoub is now 70 years old, I most recently enjoyed him in 'Mrs Maisel' where he plays a character with similar issues. But not nearly as OCD as Adrian Monk. This movie really offers not much new, it even includes most of the old TV series cast members.

But that is not a bad thing, in fact it is a good thing. It is familiar, we don't need to get used to a whole host of new characters. This movie, at just over 90 minutes, is as good and entertaining as the typical 'Monk' TV show.

There is a death, made to look accidental, but some things just don't add up. It is a bungee jump gone wrong, the cord is six feet too long, but the experienced jumper is very meticulous in constructing his cord. "Measure twice and cut once" is his approach. (As it turns out I figured out pretty quickly how the crime was likely committed and it turned out I was right.)

So most of the second half of the movie is seeing how Monk will gather and piece together clues. His interaction with other characters is as much fun to watch.

No, this isn't a great or innovative movie but it is entertaining if you like 'Monk.' My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Peacock.

For those saying Monk acts like a cartoonish two year old- you are missing the point of the show. I am a therapist who also suffers from OCD so I have personal and professional knowledge in mental health diagnosis. Usually I hate portrayal of mental health diagnosis in television and movies because it's portrayed inaccurately and mostly does more harm than good in stigma. However, Monk is one of the only exceptions. Monk walks the line of making fun of a disease that takes the joy out of most things without mocking it. Besides some exaggerations (which is to be expected in a TV show); Monk is mostly accurate in its representation. OCD is multifaceted- there's 4 types that present differently for each person (Monk displays all 4 types). I couldn't be more different than Monk yet somehow, felt understood. It made conversations about OCD easier to have with my family and friends. I was able to show them things I felt that I found hard to explain myself. Sometimes the intrusive and repetitive thoughts can be so loud it is hard to concentrate on anything else. This explains why Monk displays erratic, selfish and sometimes, annoying behavior (much like a 2 year old).

If you understand this show, if you love, miss and wish it was on for more seasons- this movie is for you. If not, skip it.

P. S- while Psych and Monk have some overlapping features, they are different shows and should be treated as such. If you like the Psych movies/ show that doesn't mean you'll like Monk and vice versa. To compare them is a disservice to both shows.

While one review here says that nostalgia is causing people to overrate this TV movie, I'm inclined to think that it's making people underrating it, because they're forgetting that, as funny and brilliant as the show could be, and as great as Tony Shalhoub was, the series always flawed and towards the end could be genuinely bad.

In the movie, Monk, an brilliant ex-detective with diagnostically fuzzy OCD is at the end of his always short rope. But when murder happens close to home (I really hate "this time it's personal" plot lines, but what can you do?) Monk comes out of retirement for what he's determined to be one last time.

As always, Monk unsteadily treads the line between character-driven comedy and cartoonish laughs. Monk sometimes responds as someone trapped in a world of obsessions, and sometimes just acts like a weird two-year-old having a freak-out.

In short, the movie, like the series is sometimes smart, and sometimes irretrievably dumb.

The mystery itself is decent though unexception - I figured it out way before Monk. The returning characters are decent although underutilized (except Randy, who is overutilized). The new characters are bland and add nothing, which is unfortunate.

Shalhoub, though, is still great, and his dry, anguished weirdness is still funny, even if it is the same shtick he's always done.

If you're expecting more than an overlong episode of the series then you'll be disappointed, but if you just want to see one more episode of Monk, this is worthwhile.

I soo wanted to like this movie. I was a huge fan of Mr. Monk, and I used to enjoy the show immensely. The fact that we can have a quirky hero with OCD was intriguing and I was rooting for another season.

But, if we can't have the show returning, a TV movie is great, right?

Well, it could have been, but this has got to be the most lazy writing ever done for a movie.

Mr. Monk isn't quirky, he's just awkward.

He's not allowed to be clever and use his intelligence, because the case is so clumsy presented, that we all know who done it and how immediately.

That means, the entire movie we're just waiting for Monk to catch up on what we already know, because no one made the effort of making an interesting case.

Great to see all the belowed characters again, but man - I'm rage-writing this review because it's probably the only time the cast gets back together, and then they get a script written by a 10 year old.