The Monk Movie's Greatest Strength Was Also Its Greatest Weakness After 125 TV Episodes

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie was a great way to revisit Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk and the rest of the characters, but the best thing about the Monk film was also its biggest flaw. After the cast of Monk reunited for a brief web episode released during the pandemic in which Adrian’s friends checked in on him, it became clear that we needed some sort of Monk revival to address how Adrian navigated the quarantine. This is how the Monk movie was born, with the film being released on Peacock on December 8, 2023.

Monk had 125 episodes across eight seasons, most of which were standalone stories and followed the “case-of-the-week” formula. The series finale, "Mr. Monk And The End," revealed that Trudy had a daughter from a previous relationship who was discovered by Adrian after he finally learned who had his wife killed. Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie explored this found family dynamic between Adrian and Molly and spotlighted the mental health challenges Monk faced during the pandemic, yet it did not abandon the original show’s formula.

The 2023 Monk Movie Was Basically Just A Long Episode Of The TV Show

Mr. Monk’s Last Case Wasn’t Very Different From The TV Show

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As exciting as seeing Adrian and the others back for one more case, the Monk movie was not very different from the TV show. At 90 minutes, Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie was essentially an extended episode, featuring all the same tropes and story beats from the series. From revealing to the audience who the killer was before Adrian found out the truth to the “I did it, but you cannot prove it” routine, Mr. Monk’s Last Case could have very well been a two-part episode released among the other 125 Monk episodes.

Mr. Monk's Last Case opened with a remastered version of the show's first scene.

The Monk film likely had a more significant budget compared to the TV show, as exemplified by the fact it took place in a few different locations instead of just indoor sets. Still, the tone of the movie and its pacing were both very similar to what Monk fans were already used to from the TV show. Randy’s nonsense theories, Leland initially not buying Adrian’s absurd conclusion of who was the killer, and even the “second murder” trope were brought back. Mr. Monk’s Last Case leaned heavily on nostalgia, for better or worse.

Why The Monk Movie Following The TV Format Was Both A Strength & A Weakness

The Monk Reunion Needed To Be Nostalgic

Custom image by Simone Ashmoore

On the one hand, the Monk movie embracing nostalgia was exactly what we needed after almost 15 years since the Monk finale aired. Despite the feature-length format, Mr. Monk’s Last Case had to deliver on a lot of different expectations, from revisiting beloved characters to showing how the pandemic affected Adrian and his relationship with Molly. This is why the Monk film doing an “extended episode” while checking all those boxes made a lot of sense.

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On the other hand, as the first Monk movie, it would have been interesting to see something more different from the TV show. A story that would have taken Adrian away from home for too long or even a different case that was not a traditional murder could have made the Monk film stand out from the rest of the show. If Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie 2 happens, it should make the most of the movie format and do things that the show never could, even if it means abandoning Monk’s original formula.