“See How They Run” - Movie review
Saoirse Ronan is serving in “See How They Run.” This movie juxtaposes the rest of her career, with this being her first comedy.
The other prominent stars in this movie are Sam Rockwell, Harris Dickinson and Adrien Brody. This is director Tom George’s third feature-length film
“See How They Run” is a mysterious comedy set in the 1950s. The plot surrounds the cast of a smash-hit play (about a murder) that is being made into a movie.
Not long after the movie starts, characters start getting knocked off one by one until stereotypically the murderer reveals themselves at the end. However, the first murder is the main event that is being investigated throughout the movie.
The detectives in this film are Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Ronan) — these two are quite the pair.
Stoppard is a washed up detective who no longer has a love for the field, while Stalker is a single mother of two who took the position during the war and is now waiting to take her police test.
Ronan’s character is the comic relief in this movie which was unexpected because the actress’s usual roles are more serious
She is most known for her performances in “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.” Because of this, it was quite surprising when she started delivering dry and sarcastic comments throughout the film. She really kept the movie entertaining.
Her humor was not the only thing surprising about her performance, as Ronan also used her natural Irish accent.
Alongside Ronan’s comedic relief, the other thing keeping the movie engaging was the film style, which was very visually pleasing. Throughout the entirety of the film, they would cut to split scenes so the audience could see things from two perspectives which was really interesting.
The downfall of this movie was the extreme parallelism between the play they were putting on in the movie and the actual plot. You could tell the film was trying to be self aware and quirky, but it got to a point where it was just cringey.
For example, there was a point where a character was monologuing about how he didn’t want the movie they were making to be cliché, and then proceeded to list murder mystery stereotypes, all of which occurred.
These clichés were funny at the beginning of the movie, but halfway through it was just an eyeroll. There was also a point where they broke the fourth wall, which can be done tastefully, but in this case was tacky.
The soundtrack of the film was also rather basic. It was done really well, but it sounded like any other mystery or suspense soundtrack.
This film was intriguing for the sole fact that you wanted to know who did it. Other than that, there was not much else offered plot-wise to keep you engaged. It was an enjoyable watch, but it wouldn’t be necessary to watch again after finding out who the killer is.
Rating: 2/5
Savannah Swartz is a second-year communications major. To contact her, email sms9072@psu.edu.
