MURDERS MOST FOUL

Let me be blunt. If you know nothing about legendary British crime fiction author Agatha Christie, this movie might not be your cup of Earl Gray.

By way of explanation, Christie is regarded as perhaps the greatest mystery thinker-upper of the 20th century. In fact, her signature play, “The Mouse Trap,” has been seen by roughly 100-million people since it opened in London’s West End back in 1952. And, except for the pandemic year, it has been running continuously, making it the longest-running play in history.

“See How They Run” opens in 1953, as the play and its cast are celebrating 100 fabulous performances.

A veteran producer has chosen a director to make a movie of the play and that director is played to unctuous perfection by Adrien Brody. He’s a supreme egotist and manages in short order to offend just about everyone he encounters.

It’s a standard trope in Christie mysteries that the most unlikable character meets an untimely end right at the start. And then a sharp-witted detective moves in to discern the identity of the murderer. In Christie’s most famous works, such as “Murder on the Orient Express,” and “Death on the Nile,” the inquisitor is Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.

But here, the gumshoe is played by American character actor Sam Rockwell, his Inspector Stoppard being no stranger to booze or broad pronouncements. Though the actor’s hit-or-miss attempt at a British accent seems beside the point, his charm wafts through the air like aftershave.

His sidekick, Constable Stalker, is played winningly by Irish actress Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) and her Constable often outshines Rockwell’s Stoppard with a youthful determination to get to the heart of the mystery at hand.

So, Brody’s Leo Kopernick gets bumped off early and the game is afoot. Whodunnit? And why? Was it because he’s a drunken party-crasher? Doesn’t seem likely. And if he was hired to make a movie of the hit play, you can be darn sure the actors in said play aren’t going to dispatch the man who could bring them certain stardom.

But that still leaves quite a few prime suspects in his circle of acquaintances for finger-pointing.

To say more would be a crime in itself. But “See How They Run” is an admirable addition to the current spate of smart mysteries like “Only Murders in the Building” or “Knives Out” and its upcoming sequel “The Glass Onion.”

And maybe the best part of the movie, at least for me, is a third act appearance by the legendary Christie herself. Everyone is gathered at her country estate for a final showdown that I didn’t see coming. And all I can say in closing is, best not drink the tea.