Thursday Murder Club

⭐6.5/10

I was anticipating this adaptation of a book I read this year, but I admit I kinda had low expectations. This is a story about a group of seniors in a retirement home who try to solve cold cases who then get wrapped up in a real life crime. I thought it had potential, but wasn't sure how it would work as a movie and was pretty worried about how it would be Netflixified. 

My favorite thing about Osman and TMC is that it is very funny, but a bookish funny, and not in a way that would really translate to screen. This movie tries to be funny, and sometimes succeeds, but whereas that's the whole point of the book, this one just tries to get off a few Marvel-esque jokes. It focuses on the plot of the book, and while I thought the mystery of the book was tons of fun, pretty complex and thoughtfully developed, it is maybe not enough to carry a film on its own. 

Or maybe it could have, but we'll never know because this movie butchers a few key features of the book. I know, I know, it's inevitable with adaptations, but the changes they made had some wild implications. It's hard to get into without spoilers, but by cutting out so many characters, they attribute blame and motivation in some truly bizarre ways. It's so just Netflixified in all the worst ways where it's not particularly nice to look at, and kinda assumes you aren't fully paying attention. 

So overall this movie is passable for a fun watch, but doesn't approach the quality of the book. I actually think this book series is the perfect fit for television, with longer, more complex arcs and multiple books to draw from. Alas, they didn't ask me about it, so now they are stuck with this mediocre movie.