Le Murder Club du jeudi

If they continue with the other books, they need to make them a series. This movie had everything it needed to be a standout, except a good script. Even if I hadn't read the books I think it would feel rushed. There's just no real build up to the solution. It's very abrupt. Looking at the credits for the 2 writers it's not surprising the script is subpar. Neither has written anything outstanding. Having read the books it's even worse. To fit the limited time frame they made too many changes and oversimplified the plot. Additionally, with a murder mystery series you have to take time to build the characters and their relationships. With this type of mystery, 2 hours just isn't enough time to do either. I was left wondering if they spent too much of the budget on the cast and didn't have enough left to do justice to the story. I'm hoping they learn from the mistake and make the next one a series, or at least a much longer movie. With the one killer saying it was an accident, they could still do a course correction to include the character in the future as is done in the books. But looking at the ratings they may not continue at all. I'll never understand why Hollywood does this. They secure the rights to a popular book with a built in audience and then proceed to alienate that audience by not sticking to the source material. How does that make sense?

Enjoyable, but this film leaves too little time to get to know the characters. A series with one season per book would have been fabulous. I am in doubt whether Pierce Brosnan was a good casting for Ron, but Mirren, Kingsley and Imrie were spot on. The result is watchable, but I highly recommend you to read the books, they are splendid.

I have to be honest, I was expecting something much closer in content to the book, and the changes were not, in my opinion, for the better. That said, it was acted well, with the exception of Pierce Brosnan's 'cockney' accent. (It was all over the place!) If there is to be a sequel (and I hope there is), I look forward to the characters being developed as they are in the books. Bogdan included!

What happened to the flirty Joyce from the book?! Celia Imrie is a brilliant casting for Joyce (as were nearly all the main characters - jury is still out on Pierce Brosnan as Ron), but it all felt a bit lost in translation to screen. The character of Bogdan was far away from the man written in the books, as was Donna. The film was still watchable and entertaining enough, however I think lovers of the book series will feel disappointed that the film failed to capture the same spark that Richard Osman wrote.

Chris Columbus is a great director but he did terribly with this movie. Plodding and unimaginative, it looked like a TV series where the director has 5 days to get the show in the can. Wide shot, single, single, OK next setup.

The actors never seemed to find the characters but I don't blame them as all the did was stand in a row delivering their lines. Even actors as skilled as these are need something to work with.

I liked the book and was looking forward to the movie but I almost bailed halfway through because I was so disappointed.