I have been a great fan of all Anthony Horowitz books and the Falcon Malteaser was the very first one i read. The afternoon after seeing 'Stormbreaker' i was in the supermarket and found this film on sale for 99p.
I brought it home fully prepared to be disappointed but instead found it to be thoroughly entertaining. Nick is absolutely adorable and streetwise. Tim is dopey without being too over the top (which would have been very easy to do).
Often with book-films the screenwriter gets bogged down with what he is 'supposed' to put in and you often feel the story is thin and stretched, more like an assembly of memorable moments - racing to get through the story. The best thing about Horowitz (and you can see this in stormbreaker too) is that he writes a film that can completely stand alone and doesn't need the novelty of having a book behind it. (something that really comes across in the Harry Potter films) He knows the book and the characters inside out and isn't afraid to break from it a little. (not too much, just at those moments that seem to jar when a writer has stayed 'too true') Anyway. The film is based around two brothers, Herbert and Nick. Their parents have moved away and Herbert is looking after his 13 year old brother alone. Herbert has renamed himself 'Tim Diamond' and is working as a private detective. I don't want to give the story away - but it is engaging and satisfyingly intricate with plenty of enjoyable characters and plot twists.
Definitely worth an hour and a half of your time - silly theme tune and all!