The Thursday Murder Club

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!

It was good with some good laughs, however I feel like this could have pushed the comedy a little further. Plus, despite being two hours long, it felt rather condensed in places and that time could have been spent building up more suspects. The suspect list was so short, that it wasn't very difficult to deduce who the killer was. This might have worked a little better as maybe a three part mini series, making it three hours long. That way they could really get further into the story with some background information and build a good suspect list. Nevertheless a decent watch. Hope there's a sequel.

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?

The book got me out of a reading slump because I loved it so much and is so well written, so obviously I was very excited for this film. Before cast had been announced I had thought Helen mirren and Ben Kingsley would be great in this. So I ended up feeling a little disappointed by film overall.

As others have said, the ending felt rushed, missing out parts of the book that would have given you as a viewer the satisfaction of finding out the reasons of why someone had done something.

It is a typical case of the book is better than the film and I imagine if you haven't read the book then the film is great.

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.