Personal essays
On treating our audience with respect
Before
I saw a Cybertruck the other day with one of those “I bought this before Elon was crazy” bumper stickers.
Nonsense.
Elon was crazy (which I would argue is the wrong word) long before the Cybertruck was released.
I was thinking about this because of the new Harry Potter series that’s being filmed.
I can’t put an “I watched this before J K Rowling was crazy” sticker next to my tv once it’s out.
JK was crazy (and again, crazy is definitely the wrong word) long before filming began.
But, at one point I drove a Tesla and at one point I read the Harry Potter series and watched all of the movies.
I was thinking about this because the movie version of “The Thursday Murder Club” was just released.
I’ve been waiting for this ever since I heard who was in it and who was directing it. Perhaps I had too big an expectation.
On the other hand, the first Potter movie came out I was knocked over. The casting was perfect, the sets were amazing, and the story somehow captured the feeling of the book while staying true to the plot.
That’s not how I felt after seeing “The Thursday Murder Club”.
Complicated
Chris Columbus, the same guy who directed the first Potter movies, directed this one.
I love the casting choices. Helen Mirren is Elisabeth, the former MI-6 spy who is the sort of ring leader of the group. Pierce Brosnan plays Ron, the former union leader. Ben Kingsley is Ibrahim, the retired psychiatrist. The one member of the cast who didn’t match the picture in my head was Celia Imrie who plays Joyce a retired nurse who loves to bake.
I loved the cast and found that the movie dialog mostly matched what I’d imagined when I read the book.
The set wasn’t right but that didn’t much matter to me.
In the book, the residents live in separate buildings and wander over to each other’s place. In the main building there’s a care facility, a dining room, and various activity rooms.
In the movie, everything was in a single building. For the most part, it didn’t matter and it was beautifully filmed.
So I loved the cast, the set, the filming, and the dialog.
I hated the story. Actually, I hated three moments in the story, didn’t like a couple of others, and loved the rest of the movie.
My relationship with the movie is complicated.
Maybe I’m petty
I know that the movie can’t be the book and many things have to be cut. I refer to the Potter movies as examples of this done well.
I also wonder if people who haven’t read the books will like the movie more. I heard Osman say that his book sales have gone up since the movie was released. I wonder if people who see the movie first will like the books.
Any way, I thought the movie was great except for three brief moments that ruin the story for me.
In the “Thursday Murder Club” book, we never know exactly what Elisabeth did in her job and she doesn’t drive a car so she is dependent on others or on public transportation. In this movie there’s a scene where out of nowhere she’s driving a fast car and announcing to a police officer that she was former MI 6. Cutting that scene wouldn’t have changed the plot at all and would have improved the movie.
In the book, the person they’re on the way to see in that fast car - and in the book it’s Elisabeth and Joyce on a train and not Elisabeth driving Donna at top speed - is living their life as a florist. The character did bad things when he was younger but has decided to live a quiet and clean life under a new name.
Nope. Audiences need villains. They’re not smart enough for nuance. So the florist looks menacing and uses extra-large scissors trimming roses and threatening Elisabeth while blood trickles down his hand. Adds nothing to the plot or the movie. In fact, this character adds nothing to the movie - use those large scissors to cut these two scenes from the movie.
And then there’s the scene that has everyone who’s read the book upset. I can’t give you details but in the book series, all of the main characters are people you can depend on when you need a hand. One of them is a younger man who is unflappable through all of the adventures.
Again, I don’t want to give anything away, but his last scene in the movie is an upsetting departure from the books in a way that prevents a proper sequel. I can’t believe that Osman didn’t object to this scene. Again, it could have been easily avoided.
Should you see the movie? If you haven’t read the books, definitely. If you have read the books, I don’t know what to advise. It’s complicated.
The fifth book in the series is coming out later this month. I’ll definitely read it.
Unlike Tesla, and JK Rowling, The Thursday Murder Club is not crazy.
The movie is just significantly flawed.
Essay from Dim Sum Thinking Newsletter 284. Read the rest of the Newsletter or subscribe