The Thursday Murder Club (2025) review

Three residents of the Coopers Chase Retirement Village, international woman of mystery Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), union leader Ron (Pierce Brosnan) and psychiatrist Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley), spend some of their free time "investigating" a cold case from May of 1973 (in which a young lady named Angela was knifed and tossed out of an apartment window) and then, with help from newbie police officer Donna De Freitas (Naomi Ackie), try to save their establishment from being sold by scuzzy owner Ian Ventham (David Tennant).  While I appreciate the respect shown for "senior citizens" and emphasizing how their life experiences are still valuable in a world that only seems to value youth, the screenplay (based on the book by Richard Osman) is terribly written, as the dialogue is abysmal, the skilled cast is turned into a group of buffoons (Richard E. Grant hams it up as a "florist" with underworld ties) and it "resolves" itself in a ludicrous manner (fentanyl?  really?).  To make things even worse, it tries to generate cheap sympathy using Terminal Illness as the Ultimate Villain: club founder Penny (Susan Kirkby) is in hospice and Elizabeth's chess fiend husband Stephen (Jonathan Pryce) has dementia.  Should I ever wind up in a nursing home, don't ask me to solve anything and kindly press a pillow against my face while I'm heavily sedated.  Thanks in advance.