The Thursday Murder Club director, Chris Columbus, has made a long career out of taking seemingly innocent characters and turning them into stars. He has directed such gems as Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films, but those were almost easy. The Thursday Murder Club works quite unexpectedlyWhere Columbus has failed is in projects like Nine Months and Rent. The Thursday Murder Club. But it is the childlike enthusiasm of trying to understand what is happening by the characters of Brosnan, Mirren, Mirren, and Imrie that makes The Thursday Murder Club work.