MR. MONK'S LAST CASE: A MONK MOVIE

Tony Shalhoub and James Purefoy

MR. MONK'S LAST CASE: A MONK MOVIE (2023 telefilm). Director: Randy Zisk. 

Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) comes out of retirement to investigate when his stepdaughter Molly's (Caitlin McGee) fiance, Griffin (Auston Scott), dies in a bungee jumping accident. Molly is convinced that Rick Eden (James Purefoy of Injustice), an Elon Musk-type who runs a vast Amazon-style corporation, is somehow behind the man's death and possibly others. In fact Griffin was sure that Eden had murdered his late business partner and was attempting to get some solid information when he died. 

Tony Shalhoub and Caitlin McGee

It's a delight to see Monk again, although some of the fun is vitiated by the fact that Adrian spends much of the movie contemplating suicide, and the recurring appearances by his late wife, Trudy, become tiresome (in fact the sentimental after-life sequences, meant to be poignant, come dangerously close to being sappy). At least Shalhoub is in good trim, and it's a pleasure to see Natalie (Traylor Howard), Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Randy (Jason Gray-Stanford) again. James Purefoy makes a sexy and compelling adversary as well, liming the role of a narcissistic sociopath with chilling understatement. The solution to this is quite clever as well. As usual, some of the grimmer aspects of the story don't quite jell with the light-hearted approach. 

Verdict: Despite some annoying aspects, this is a very good bet for Monk fans. ***. 

INJUSTICE

James Purefoy

INJUSTICE (5 part British mini-series/2011). Director: Colin McCarthy. 

I often find British mystery mini-series to be a little too deliberately-paced -- I generally prefer the "let's get on with it" pace of Law and Order -- to hold my attention for long, but happily that wasn't the case with Injustice. In this very interesting limited series lawyer William Travers (James Purefoy), who gave up criminal law after a kind of breakdown, agrees to represent an old friend, Philip Spaull (Robert Whitelock), who has been accused of murdering his mistress. Meanwhile Police Investigator Mark Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles), who has faced Travers in court as a witness, looks into the cold-blooded killing of a man that Travers once got off a murder charge. Wenborn, a rather nasty character who has a physically abusive relationship with his frightened wife, who remembers him as a kinder person years ago, begins to wonder if Travers had something to do with his old client's death even as Travers -- a regular Perry Mason -- insists he is taking Spaull's case only because he is convinced of his innocence.

Verdict: Although frankly a little far-fetched at times -- for instance, defense attorneys wouldn't make much of a living if they only took on innocent clients -- Injustice is very well-acted, keeps you in suspense, and has several interesting twists. This is streaming on Amazon Prime and is well-worth a look for mystery fans. ***.