Write Out Loud (Reviews and Writing)

“…if you love this series of books…stay well away from the movie. It will actually hurt you….”

If you’ve followed my posts for long enough, you should recall that I absolutely adore Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. I’m not a great fan of detective novels, nor of murder mysteries in general. Yet, somehow, Osman managed to get everything right: the comedy, the gentle nods to Agatha Christie, and – of course – the fun of guessing whodunnit.

So when it was announced that the film version was coming out, I was delighted. I was even more delighted to discover that some of my favourite stars were in it. The casting was pretty much perfect: Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, Tom Ellis and David Tennant – who could ask for more?

It was with great excitement then, that I sat down to watch the movie a couple of weeks ago.

Oh dear.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

There’s often the moment where a movie just doesn’t quite live up to the books. Most times, in fact, if you really love a book, there’s a good chance you won’t find the movie version as good. But it is rare you find the movie utterly ghastly. Alas, that’s what happened here.

It’s as though all the actors forgot how to act. I felt like I was watching the rehearsals for a really awful amateur dramatics company. Somehow, all these brilliant, brilliant actors made a complete pig’s ear of it all. To be fair, Pierce Brosnan has form (let’s not talk about Mamma Mia), but there’s no excuse for any of the others. It was simply painful to watch.

Then there’s the absolute catastrophe of the plot, which was changed to the point of no recognition at times. It became a melting pot of half-baked nonsense that did no justice to the book. I don’t even know what the thought process was behind the decisions made. For instance, what was done to the character of Bogdan was, frankly, unforgivable. They made the point of the character utterly void and completely pointless. In doing so too, they made the character of Elizabeth horribly weak. Again, this was pointless.

So how could it be that such a dreadful hash of things occurred in making a movie that should have been a gift? Well, I blame it entirely on the director, Chris Columbus. Looking at his filmography, it is clear that the director is no Spielberg. He’s at home with the silly and the childish – and that’s ok; honestly, I’m up for that. I can see that this book might, at first glance, seem to fit his kind of work.

But the reality is that Osman’s books hit the spot because he’s immensely perceptive. Osman writes Britishness at its finest and he shows remarkable understanding of the way we do growing old. These are concepts that are beyond Columbus. He directs this movie as though it is for children. It isn’t. This is a fun, Sunday evening TV-type of story that’s firmly for adults and needs that same level of perception that Osman brings to it.

And, what’s more, we surely no longer live in a world where it is acceptable to change the plot so it is barely recognisable compared to the book? There’s no need to do this any longer with audiences now so used to books-to-movie productions that even the most complex of novels we’re more than happy to wade through on screen. Why it was thought such radical deviations from the book were a good idea, I will never understand.

In summary then: don’t go anywhere near this movie unless you actually couldn’t care less about the books at all. Even then, I wouldn’t bother. As grotbox viewing, you can watch an awful lot better and more intelligible. But if you love this series of books, my advice is to stay well away from the movie. It will actually hurt you.

My Verdict:

Social Entrepreneur, educationalist, bestselling author and journalist, D K Powell is the author of the bestselling collection of literary short stories “The Old Man on the Beach“. His first book, ‘Sonali’ is a photo-memoir journal of life in Bangladesh and has been highly praised by the Bangladeshi diaspora worldwide. Students learning the Bengali language have also valued the English/Bengali translations on every page. His third book is ‘Try not to Laugh’ and is a guide to memorising, revising and passing exams for students.

Both ‘The Old Man on the Beach’ and ‘Sonali’ are available on Amazon for kindle and paperback. Published by Shopno Sriti Media. The novel,’The Pukur’, was published by Histria Books in 2022.

D K Powell is available to speak at events (see his TEDx talk here) and can be contacted at dkpowell.contact@gmail.com. Alternatively, he is available for one-to-one mentoring and runs a course on the psychology of writing. Listen to his life story in interview with the BBC here.

Ken writes for a number of publications around the world. Past reviewer for Paste magazine, The Doughnut, E2D and United Airways and Lancashire Life magazine. Currently reviews for Northern Arts Review. His reviews have been read more than 7.9 million times.

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