Mr. Monk's Last Case

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.

When watching this all I was thinking was; why does this have to be his last case?

It ends on a good positive note and his relationship with his daughter was handled perfectly and she almost set herself up to be a perfect Sharona/Natalie style sidekick for a new series run if this happened.

Tony Shalhoub seems to fit the role like a glove and it doesn't feel like its been 13 years since his last episide. It just feels like it was a year or so ago he was last playing the role

If they could offer a new series of Dexter many years later they can easily do it with Monk.

All you need is to find a way to get Stottlemeyer into the fold.and you have perfect TV.

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.

Some TV reboots -- or movie-length one-offs based on long-cancelled shows -- turn out to be major disappointments. Not so with "Mr. Monk's Last Case," in which the Defective Detective is called upon to investigate a horrifying accident involving his daughter's fiance. Once again, he drives everyone crazy with his obsessive/compulsive behavior -- the scene in which he pretends to be a bartender goes on for too long (which, frankly, the series' most memorable comedy bits often did, anyway) -- but watching him try to play master mixologist under the judgmental eye of a horde of customers was still laugh-out-loud funny. Balancing out the chuckles: Monk's suicidal tendencies, borne of the fact that he hasn't solved a murder in ten years (and hasn't even been asked to), the memoir he has written has elicited a polite but firm "No!" from his publisher, and he's beginning to feel not just unhappy, but useless. (Never has Shalhoub looked more hangdog, more emotionally drained; every crease on his aging face tells a sad tale all its own.) Most of the old gang is on hand to help him, the villain is as evil as any he's ever encountered, the ending is a tear-jerker, and if the Big Reveal -- that inevitable moment when he explains exactly how the crime was committed -- seems a bit predictable, so what? The movie is a fine addition to the Adrian Monk mythos, and -- even better -- it looks like this won't be his swan song, after all. Maybe he'll follow in Columbo's footsteps and keep coming back. We can only hope.

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.