The new Monk movie is more like Mr. Monk’s Hallmark movie

Adrian Monk was always consistent. He was never a fan of germs, heights, loud noises, crowds, elevators, milk, or many other things. But he knows how to solve a murder. monk, the 2000s USA Network procedural centered on the fictional detective played by Tony Shalhoub, wasn’t as consistent; After a few seasons, the show seemed to reverse-engineer its mysteries from the most uncomfortable situations you could put Monk in for an episode. The show’s quality suffered, but Shalhoub’s compassion and meticulous care ensured that the show always had something to offer.

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk FilmThe new Peacock special, which brings back Shalhoub, Monk and most of the series’ characters, destroys the lack of consistency monk groomed. It’s been more than a decade since he finally solved his wife Trudy’s murder, and life post-COVID hasn’t been exactly pleasant for him. With his memoir canceled, Monk cannot afford to pay for his stepdaughter Molly’s (Caitlin McGee) wedding, causing him to feel depressed and contemplate suicide. He postpones his plans when he is forced to solve one final case for Molly, but as the film progresses, Monk feels broken, so much so that the ghost of Trudy (Melora Hardin) has to step in several times to get him through difficult moments talk.

Unfortunately, what Mr. Monk’s last case The sadness that underlies Monk’s entire situation is built upon and falters because it doesn’t feel true. And even worse, the film’s direct-streaming revival is a blatant imitation of what was monk I did it better somewhere else.

The special suffers from many of the traditional problems that come with this type of reunion. The central mystery it sets out to solve sprawls out in a way the series hasn’t been able to, and is a victim of an extended runtime without a real spine to support it. It’s caught somewhere between the conclusion of Monk’s story (it’s his). Last case) and reboot (he was withdrawn for one last case!). Their success may vary depending on what’s in the movie based on the nostalgia that such reboots rely on: Randy (Jason Gray-Stanford) is still an idiot, and real fans still remember his music “project.” “. Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) is still brash and doubts Monk’s logic. “It’s a gift. And a curse.”

But such nostalgia seems to merely reimagine Monk’s main arc from the series. What’s notable is that this isn’t the first time Monk has seen Trudy’s ghost. In Season 3 “Mr. “Monk takes his medicine.” Particularly distressed by his limitations, Monk retrieves Trudy’s old pillow from a plastic bag in the closet and she appears, ethereal and brightly lit. The conversation they have is a speedrun of everything Mr. Monk’s last case

tries to build his emotional core on the following foundation: his fear of change (and his fear of “not changing”), how much he misses her, how much he is afraid that his life will always seem so hopeless.

Over the course of this episode, he tries medication – which eases his anxiety but also turns him into an asshole and a bad detective – and decides to further mess up the treatment plan he had. For someone like Monk, these could be recurring problems, and indeed Shalhoub’s performance has a graceful, endless weariness about it. But Mr. Monk’s last case seems trite compared to what a 42-minute episode could already contain.

In this third season episode, Trudy’s celestial presence feels much more real; monk brought not the real Trudy from the spectral plane, but Monk’s idea of ​​what Trudy might have been there to tell him. Paired with Shalhoub’s cracking voice and his deepest desperation, the moment between them is heartbreakingly serious and expresses his bond and conviction better than any other cut in the film. At the end of the special it seems more like he stumbled into it Mr. Monk’s trademark film

as a consequence of monk. This is especially true when he clumsily tries to tie his thoughts about Trudy into the case at hand: he laments the never-ending crime statistics, but Monk has never been driven by his impact or his legacy, and certainly not by “ending murder.” ” He was good at puzzles, a damn good detective and just as strict when it came to honesty as he was about cleanliness.

Aside from the obvious comfort of revisiting that monk Crew, Mr. Monk’s last case feels entirely dedicated to giving him a degree and a future. But that’s what the last episode of the series offered him. While “Mr. “Monk Takes His Medicine” was ultimately about maintaining the status quo for the continuation of the series In the series finale he meets Mollywhich makes him finally decide to live his life and not just get through it. Mr. Monk’s last case Throws that out the window for a post-COVID world, but it has nothing new, insightful, or even comforting to offer Monk or the viewer.

Aside from the heavy-handed jazz soundtrack, Monk’s whole schtick always had a tragic undertone. The central stereotype of Monk’s life – a brilliant detective who could solve everything but his own wife’s murder – was both a plot device and a trap, crystallizing his development and (as he repeatedly admitted) stopping him from doing so to believe that he would ever be truly happy or free of his OCD symptoms again. Driving Monk to the brink only to be held back by his wife’s ghost is not the solution the Special believes.

Mr. Monk’s last case is now streaming on Peacock.