See How They Run is a delightfully clever, funny nod to Agatha Christie that begins with a dead body. Director Tom George is inspired in part by Wes Anderson in vibrant background shot compositions, with a zip-zappy jazz score that keeps rhythm, while empowering eccentric characters. As well, there’s a homage to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining in a dream sequence, and a hilarious climactic development that would’ve felt right at home in a Quentin Tarantino film (minus the gore).
Your enjoyment of the film will depend on your appreciation of the classic British murder mystery and those who parodied and meta-commented on them.
There are air quotes and winks at the audience in almost every scene. Part of the fun is Saoirse Ronan, shining in the most entertaining role of her career.
The whodunit comedy is set backstage in a 1950s London production of the long-running Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap. And If you know what The Mousetrap is, and especially if you’ve seen it performed, you’ll get a big kick out of See How They Run.
As one critic proclaims, “the result is a plummy affair, a proper figgy pudding baked out of once-stale Scotland Yard tropes.”
Brian and Charles split the difference between Wallace and Gromit and Frankenstein. It’s a charming film that genially honours the human need for meaningful connection.
It follows Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who spends his days building quirky, unconventional contraptions that seldom work. Combining a washing machine and various spare parts, he invents Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who has an obsession with cabbages.
It’s a moving buddy comedy that outshines recent high-tech entries such as Finch.
Mixing DIY physical-comedy charm with sentimental tragicomic melancholia, this Sundance Film Festival favourite offers a delightful antidote to the horrors of the world news cycle and the cynicism of the blockbuster franchises
Not unlike Frankenstein’s monster, Brian’s ungainly creation comes alive during a thunderstorm. There’s a touch of Geppetto and Pinocchio in the bond between these two.
Grateful for the company, Brian beams, in his understated way, with parental pride: “I never thought I’d make anything as amazing as Charles.”
Along the way, the robot Charles provides a hilarious lesson in how to be human. Made with genuine affection and innately British whimsy, this is really just an odd-couple comedy about two lonely blokes, one of whom has a “washing machine for a tummy.”
See How They Run, rated PG, plays at the Patricia Theatre from November 18 to 22 at 7 pm. Running time is one hour and 39 minutes.
Brian and Charles, rated G, plays at the Patricia Theatre November 23 at 7 pm, and at 1:30 and 7 pm on November 24. Running time is one hour and 30 minutes.
Gary Shilling is executive director of qathet Film Society (formerly Powell River Film Society).
