Saturday, November 11, 2017

In Theatres: Murder on The Orient Express (2017)

"If it was easy, I wouldn't be famous."---Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh).

Dame Agatha Christie modeled the Belgian sleuth Poirot in the mold of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's irrepressible Sherlock Holmes, right down to the meticulous attention to detail. Forty three years after the novel was first adapted for the screen, Murder On The Orient Express is brought to life again, this time with Branagh not only heading an ensemble cast, but directing and serving as co-producer.

It begins with Poirot in Jerusalem closing a case when he receives a telegram from an old friend, the owner of the Orient Express. What follows is a lesson in Whodunit 101. Anyone who's ever watched TV mysteries like Murder, She Wrote or Ellery Queen, for example, would know what I mean.

The passengers on board the train are the predictably diverse group. A fading star, traveling in relative anonymity (Michelle Pfeiffer). An undercover Pinkerton detective (Willem Dafoe). A soldier-turned-doctor (singer Leslie Odom, Jr.). The cast also includes Daisy Ridley (to be seen next in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", next month), Penelope Cruz, Derek Jacobi, and Johnny Depp. Trust me, you won't see the twist ending coming. Having not seen previous adaptations nor read the original story, it threw me for two loops.

Check out the trailer:



One complaint I read is that Branagh gives himself too much screen time, as if Poirot needs to be in every frame. Maybe this was a vanity project, I don't know, but those of us unacquainted with Poirot will forgive.

Other trailers include:

"Darkest Hour" (limited release Nov. 24): Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. 'Nuff said.

"Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri" (in limited release): Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, & Peter Dinklage are among the stars in this one, as a rural sheriff (Harrelson) is harrassed by the titular billboards and the woman who commissioned them.

"The Man Who Invented Christmas": Dan Stevens is Charles Dickens. Christopher Plummer brings Scrooge to life.

Ye scribe will be looking to rent the 1974 version of "Orient Express", with Albert Finney and Sean Connery, among others, just for comparison shopping.

Rating: A.

6 comments:

Samuel Wilson said...

Historically speaking, the prologue finds Poirot in "Palestine" or "the Palestine mandate," a territory governed by Great Britain under League of Nations (and later UN) auspices until "Israel" was created in 1948, after the British left. You could have just said Jerusalem and spared yourself this pedantry.

hobbyfan said...

I'll fix it, Sam.

Unknown said...

Ever hear of a spoiler warning?

Your whole fourth paragraph is one spoiler after another - every description is something the audience isn't supposed to find out until nearly the end of the story.

I'd suggest that you not bother with any of the other Orient Express pictures (this one is the fourth). All the changes between each version will confuse you absolutely.
... And definitely stay away from the original Agatha Christie novel ...

hobbyfan said...

Oh? And what was wrong with the book, Mike?

Unknown said...

Belatedly:

Nothing is wrong with Dame Agatha Christie's original book.

And that's why you shouldn't bother with it.

Most of the changes that Branagh made were no more than lame attempts to "modenize" the presentation for the Milennial demographic - not that that would do any good with the willfully ignorant audience of today.

The 1974 movie sticks pretty closely to the Christie original (small tweaks here and there), but when I saw it back in the day, I'd already read the book, and so had no problem following it.

This is coming off as "old man talk"; accordingly, I'll stand down.

hobbyfan said...

Uh-huh.