The Thursday Murder Club

[AnneElliotfanclub]

Anyone else been to see this? Was really looking forward to it but rather disappointed by changes to the plot.

I enjoyed it because I haven’t read the book. A jarring note for me was that RO called one of his characters Tony Curran. The name of a real
life Scottish actor.

I enjoyed it the second time today.

I suggest a second watch for all

I thought everyone was well cast even PB as Ron.

I’d have preferred a short series as opposed to a film though which is generally the case when you’ve read the book.

I probably would have liked it more if I hadn’t read the book - I suspect that is often the way with adaptations where the characters are “not right”, more than the plot changes. I liked Lewis’s comparison with The Watch which was utterly loathed by fans for exactly this reason but for non fans the utter bastardisation of characters would not have registered.

If the company bought the rights to the book before it was published I wonder who has the rights to the remaining TMC books?

I also think that by having Tom playing Jason with a stronger London accent made up for Ron PB accent not being as strong as we might expect. I didn’t mind Ron having the accent he had. It made him less of a caricature.

I did think PB and Tom looked like dad and son so there was that

a series would have been better but who says no to Spielberg?

I didn’t mind it in general but I hated the human trafficking plot point being glossed over by Elizabeth and the florist. Enslaving men from Eastern Europe in your flower business and old people’s home? A stern word and a promise never to do it again will sort that out. I don’t remember that from the book but I cannot understand for the life of me why it is there and instantly hand waved away when if bogan did it he could’ve just done it because David Tennant told him to.

Not read the books so don't know the original, but watched the film this evening and really enjoyed it!

Yes, I don't remember that from the book either. I think they just added it in for dramatic effect tbh. Liked Bogdan but didn't think he sounded typically Polish. More Romanian like DT had said lol.

I’ve just finished watching the film and was expecting it to be dire, judging from reviews here and in the media but I really enjoyed it! I was very happy to watch Pierce Brisbane as Ron, he’s easy on the eye and I didn’t like Ron in the book so very happy to have a re- imagining.

The first book I almost didn’t finish but was persuaded to and I’m glad I did as the second book was much better and by forcing myself through the first book, I knew all the characters.

It was a lightweight, fun film just like the books are lightweight and fun and I loved Helen Mirren as Elizabeth and the superb Jonathan Pryce as Stephen. No problem with any of the casting and Brogan’s accent made me feel weak at the knees.

A lovely easy film before bedtime. I didn’t ask my DH to watch it with me as I knew it wouldn’t be his thing

Sorry I meant Bogdan

Wrong Director, wrong locations. Coppers Chase is not meant to be bloody Downton Abbey!

The passport storyline has been created for the film - this thread of the story is totally different in the book.

PB as Ron didn’t jar as much as expected because I was so busy being disappointed by the absolute NEPOTISM of the casting of Ingrid Oliver as Joyce’s daughter! Utterly shameless!

I have read and enjoyed all the books but it was years ago now, so can’t really remember the plots. I watched the film this afternoon on Netflix & loved it!

Great cast - Helen Mirren & Celia Imrie are gorgeous & I loved Pierce Brosnan & Ben Kingsley (& everyone else except David Tennant but I was never a fan of his anyway).

Gentle, easy watching & fab to have older women leading the way! Don’t let the negative reviews put you off!

I think this review you linked nails one aspect:

"Here you have a great cast, a successful director, screenwriters who have written other successful work, a chunky budget . . . and yet something went wrong. What was it?

“Tone” is such a strange, ineffable quality in any dramatic work, but it’s also one of the most vital."

I just couldn't believe the clunky Father Brown aspect of the whole thing, and the hammy acting, and the suspension of disbelief involved in having to accept they'd be living in a multistory listed castle (without, as she pointed out, any lifts).

I was also really disappointed they didn't show almost any of the actual gatherings of the club or their discussions. Instead, it was all Helen Mirren running the show and solving things and swooshing about in her expensive car. That's what I imagined it would be - them at their crime board, solving an intricate crime in ingenious ways - not a tone-deaf farce.

I enjoyed it but to say it was two hours long it missed a lot out. I still think pierce Brosnan looks wrong though the others were superb. Not sure on the ending either. Nice film but it doesn’t live up to the book.

I am gutted as I loved the books and desperately wanted to love the film. I enjoy Death in Paradise, Madame Blanc, Miss Marple etc but this lacked the charm of those. Should definitely have been a 4 or 6 parter I think. I missed the Joyce character from the book and much as I love Celia Imrie she wasn’t given a good enough script to capture Joyce from the book.
Very annoyed by what they did with Bogdan.
Sure I read somewhere that depending on how it is received they will decide on a sequel this weekend.
I am going to watch it again and see what I think - I wish I could have seen it before reading the book.

I enjoyed it. It's a while since I read the book, so I'd forgotten the details and any plot changes went over my head. Agree that Pierce Brosnan was a terrible choice to play Ron - his accent was all over the place. And he was acting like Father Jack (from Father Ted) in the scene where Ibrahim told him to make himself look rough. It all got a bit surreal at that point. I had pictured someone like Vinnie Jones. I was happy with the rest of the cast.

The only other gripe I had was that Chris and Donna spend a lot of time together in the book and develop a lovely friendship. Chris's wife had left him and he was nursing a broken heart (hence all the comfort eating). The film left out all of that. He's just eating constantly for no apparent reason. A mini-series would have been great.

Agree with a lot of what has been said here already. I think the huge issues we have with it are mostly because we are British, watching from a British point of view, having read the books which are packed with cultural references about Costa or Taste the Difference. All of that has been removed for the American market so the charm has gone.

Same as the choice of location - utterly ludicrous for a retirement village, but that's clearly what the Americans want to see, grand buildings/castles like Downton Abbey. Pretty obvious they never went to any retirement villages or care home type places (even the really posh ones) but just went with this pre-conceived idea of "castle".

Spielberg/Columbus are massive names but however good and experienced they are they were clearly trying to produce a more international film to not just cater for British audiences and failed in doing that, despite a gargantuan budget and some very well known cast members. David Tennant was just awful, as was Pierce Brosnan.

I did like the Irish Times review - and you'd think they'd be supportive of Brosnan given he's Irish.

"A hollow page-turner adapted for film with all the zing of a lesser season of Inspector Morse"

I've never read any of ROs books, but I might just sling this on Netflix on a wet afternoon when I'm doing some housework. I'm a bit short of 'nice to look at, undemanding, can do other stuff at the same time' TV' and this looks as though it will hit the spot without making me incandescent with rage.

It's what I look for in TV at the moment, so I'll give it a go.

Osman said he had sold the film rights before the first book was published. So, I live in hope that a British TV series may still be in the future. I hope Osman is ok, I feel knew that reviews wouldn't be glowing. I imagine the money softens the blow.

I've pre-ordered the next book today, they're an Autumn treat and I was badly let down by the We Solve Murders last year.

@JudeyJudey I've only read/listened to the first three TMC books (got the fourth ready to go on audible) I've loved them so far. What let you down about WSM? If you're able to say without spoilers? Just so I don't waste my monthly audible credit on it.

I agree with PPs that the choice of Pierce Brosnan as Ron was shit. Could totally have seen him portrayed by Ray Winstone or Phil Daniels (PD suggested by a pp - genuis idea and I hadn't thought of him).
But people keep wanging on about how Ron was described as good looking in the books. PB is most definitely that but I don't care! I would much rather have had a more authentic Ron. But, then again, PB is very well known to a global audience so a pragmatic choice in terms of revenue and recognition.

Phil Daniel’s would have made the perfect Ron.
I always had ray Winston or Vinny jones as him , but PD would also have been great. I didn’t hate Pierce, but just not Ron material (in my head anyway. )

It was so obviously made for the Americans.
Very disappointing - lost so much of its charm.
Stephen was excellent and so was CE as Joyce. CE can do no wrong in my eyes anyway but she really was good, just vastly underused.
Happy enough with Elizabeth and Ibrahim but Ron was all wrong.
Donna was perfect after a shaky start, and Bogdan was good but Chris wasn’t written right at all.
It left me cold, and I love the books.
I felt it could have been better without such a star studded cast (except Joyce)