The Thursday Murder Club

I have never read the book, or intended to, but there was nothing much on TV this evening so we watched Thursday Murder Club. We worked out straight away ‘who done it’. It was simple, gentle and very easy to watch. 7 out of ten .

varian

The setting is wrong. A single large house might be converted to a care home, but a retirement village is different. Typically the large old house would have communal facilities and some apartments but there would also be a large number of individual houses in the grounds.

In the film the former priory building seems to house communal facilities and apartments. The apartments have large rooms so there could not be many of them - perhaps ten at the most which would house perhaps 12-15 residents. There is no sign of any houses in the grounds.

When we have a scene involving the residents there are a large number - perhaps 100 or more so Coopers Chase would need 80 or so units to accommodate them all. The designer should have done a bit more research.

I didn't think they'd thought the concept of where they all lived very thoroughly. It never felt like there were lots of couples and single people living there

I imagined more modern flats, with a care home as well in the grounds.

I have read and enjoyed the books but this dramatisation is tosh.
The setting is nothing like a retirement village and with the exception of Pierce Brosnan who is miscast, it is a waste of a distinguished set of actors.

TiggyW

I loved all the books (on audio) and am looking forward to the film when it appears on tv, as we don’t have Netflix. Richard Osman writes very cleverly. However, I didn’t enjoy ‘We Solve Murders’. That was hard work for some reason. 🤔

Unfortunately Richard Osman didn't write the screenplay for the film.

I enjoyed the book, enjoyed the film (which was perfect for a drizzly afternoon).

I doubt either of them is meant to be intellectually challenging, true to life or taken too seriously. They’re just a bit of fun, and sometimes that’s just what you need.

Cooper’s Chase is definitely the retirement village for me. I’ll be checking my premium bonds as soon as this month’s results are out at a minute past midnight. How many months would the £1m top prize buy us, I wonder?

Just seen this thread now.
I didn't like the book at all and not a R O fan but thought I'd give the film a go.
Agree was a great cast and actually I really enjoyed it - perfect for an otherwise boring late afternoon. ( expected Pierce Brosnan to perform his unforgetttable rendering of SOS though!)

Just seen this review which starts
The Thursday Murder Club film has all the cinematic flair of an ITV2 serial from 200
This nefariously lazy Netflix adaptation butchers Richard Osman’s bestseller to create a a half-hearted parody of a whodunnit

They put it much better than I could!

2/5 stars

Spot on

I thought it was like an extended version of Death in Paradise but without the tropical sunshine.

Most of the acting, apart from Helen Mirren and Naomi Ackie, was hammy, which was disappointing given the experienced cast.

It seemed to be more about the cast than the story-but the book is on my DNF pile.

MollyNew

I thought it was like an extended version of Death in Paradise but without the tropical sunshine.

Most of the acting, apart from Helen Mirren and Naomi Ackie, was hammy, which was disappointing given the experienced cast.

For the 20 minutes I watched I thought Helen Mirren was the worst. She was so much just Helen Mirren. Just shows how different things can be for different people.

I thought Pierce Brosnan was good but I haven't read the books so had no preconceived image of the character.

Parsley3

I have read and enjoyed the books but this dramatisation is tosh.
The setting is nothing like a retirement village and with the exception of Pierce Brosnan who is miscast, it is a waste of a distinguished set of actors.

I agree with Parsley3: tosh.

American adaptation ruins good story. Directed by a man who normally does children's films: bad choice. Could've done so much more service to the narrative if they'd made it a three-parter - but they blew their budget on the star-studded cast: unnecessary. It would've stayed truer if it had been adapted and produced by Brits.

I turned over after sticking with it for nearly an hour. I thought it was boring, badly acted and very silly.

Don’t know what I was expecting but was thoroughly disappointed.

Yes it was an over egged pudding.

Well I enjoyed it, it was a decent Saturday evening watch, enhanced by a glass or two of a decent red.

Mollygo

It seemed to be more about the cast than the story-but the book is on my DNF pile.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the DNF pile?

Sorry, it means Did Not Finish.
My DNF pile started with Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Where the Crawdads Sing, Hilary Mantel books and Richard Osman’s first book. I didn’t start the others.

Mollygo I struggled with the beginning of Crawdads, carried on and ended up loving it.

Last week I re-read all the Thursday Murder Club books and loved them again. But it has reinforced my intention not to watch the film which appears to have changed the plot considerably. Also, there is absolutely no way that Pierce Brosnam is Ron

With so many big names starring in the film - Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, I thought it would be good. It was such tripe, I dozed off after about 20 minutes. Rubbish.

It was all a bit silly, but harmless.
The best part of the entire film was the last 5 minutes & the Cat Steven’s song.