August 31. 2025
At the posh Coopers Chase retirement home, there were three elderly amateur sleuths who meet in the jigsaw room to discuss cold murder cases every Thursday. Leader Elizabeth Best (Helen Mirren) had a wide portfolio of skills from her job in international affairs. Ron Ritchie (Pierce Brosnan) was a trade unionist. Ibrahim Arif (Ben Kingsley) was a psychiatrist for veterans with PTSD. Their latest case needed someone with a medical background, so Elizabeth invited retired nurse Joyce Meadowcroft (Celia Imrie) to join them.
Ian Ventham (David Tennant) was the owner of the land where Coopers Chase stands. Ventham wanted to close down Coopers Chase and turn it into an events place. However, his business partner Tony Curran (Geoff Bell) was opposed to the idea because an old aunt of his was still a resident. One day, Ventham and Curran had a loud quarrel right on the grounds of Cooper's Chase. The next day, Curran was found bludgeoned to death in his home.
The Thursday Murder Club is a 2025 crime comedy film directed by Chris Columbus from a screenplay by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, based on a 2020 novel (the first of a series of books) by Richard Osman (his first book). I knew of Osman from his interesting quiz shows making the rounds as reels online, such as "Pointless" and "House of Games." Knowing that he wrote these mystery novels makes me want to read them all, and soon.
The main cast is quite a powerhouse cast of A-list actors -- Mirren, Brosnan, Kingsley -- all turning up the British wit and charm. "Dr. Who" actor Tennant led the stellar supporting cast, along with Whitney Houston actress Naomi Ackie as a young police officer Donna, Daniel Mays as her chubby chief inspector Hudson, "Lucifer" actor Tom Ellis as Ron's celebrity son Jason, Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant as a crime kingpin florist Tanner, Henry Lloyd Hughes as immigrant worker Bogdan, and Jonathan Pryce as Elizabeth's dear husband Stephen.
Director Chris Columbus ("Home Alone," "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") tells the story as a light murder mystery with a wry sense of humor, llamas and cakes. Before the Coopers Chase murders came up, the Club was at first trying to figure out a cold case from 1973 brought up by founding member DI Penny Grey, who was now comatose. Of course no matter how complex things got, and how unlikely the clues were, all the pieces fall into place in the end, just like the Agatha Christie mysteries that inspired it. 7/10
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