The Thursday Murder Club

A very uneven adaptation of a remarkable book. The first act seems to be moving too slowly to complete the story in two hours, but the ending is rushed and clunky. There are, of course, large portions of the book missing, which unfortunately makes the motives of the perpetrators seem weak. Some of the casting just didn't work at all, accents all over the place. If there had been more time to do the book justice, and more thought put into the casting, this could have been a standout series. As it is it's a mediocre film. Disappointed.

Excellent cast. The film starts off perfectly, and I immediately recognized the atmosphere of the book (The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman). The question I'd had ever since I heard this first novel would be adapted-"But can they really fit all that action into two hours? Because cutting out anything would chip away at the magic..."-was still buzzing in my head, though more faintly now, sulking in a corner.

But slowly, as the story speeds up and large chunks of the plot vanish, and even a character is completely changed for the worse (leaving me wondering: how will the next adaptations look without him?), that buzzing returns triumphantly. The ending leaves a sensation similar to the one where the ground is ripped out from under your feet, leaving you breathless for a moment and with the question: was that all?

This tale deserved to be told as a faithful miniseries; as a film, it feels like a missed opportunity, despite a cast that truly deserved.

I haven't read the books which I glad about as I went into this blind. Sometimes I film that if you read the books you can't watch the film for what it is !

But a film with Helen , pierce , sir Ben and others can't be bad!

It's capture everything English and a retirement I want to be in when I am older!

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?

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.