Half Price: A perfect movie to take your parents to.
For the second time in nearly 50 years, the Agatha Christie
novel ‘Murder On The Orient Express’ has been adapted to film. The story
follows the incomparable detective Hercule Poirot, and his impossibly huge
moustache. Hercule finds himself aboard The Orient Express, a magnificent train
packed to the brim with passengers from all over the world, travelling
peacefully, until, in the dead of night, one of them meets an untimely end.
Unfortunately for the killer, Hercule Poirot is probably the world’s greatest
detective. (Sorry Batman).
 |
| He's used to being sad. |
What follows is a simple whodunit, as the detective makes
his rounds interrogating the various passengers. The film is directed by
Kenneth Branagh, who also plays the lead detective. He’s not the only notable
cast member as the movie is filled with eye popping actors. Penelope Cruz,
Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer. ‘Murder On The Orient
Express’ has a rather impressive ensemble, though it leaves something to be
desired.
No one does a bad job per se, but no one was particularly
impressive either. In fact, each of these actors have had better performances
this year alone in different projects. The most engaging of the lot is Branagh
himself as the eccentric but brilliant detective, whose obsessive compulsive
disorder makes ordinary life unbearable, but solving crimes simple. The actors
give you enough of their characters to play your own personal game of clue as
the story unfolds, but they tend not to stick with you after the credits roll.
 |
| A veritable who's who of "Who's who?" |
The best part of the film comes through its impressive
direction. Branagh uses a handful of interesting and engaging shots that
utilise the claustrophobic train setting to his advantage. You feel like an
uninvited voyeur creeping through the corridors, catching a glimpse of various
interrogations through a curtain or a window. If only this style wasn’t broken
by a series of mostly unnecessary and incredibly dull exterior shots of the
train running on its track. In case you weren't sure if that's what trains do I suppose.
At the end of the day, ‘Murder On The Orient Express’ was a
fine film. It’s incredibly well designed, and meticulously detailed in its
production. There’s a sense that the intention was to make a film that you’d
only see nowadays during the classic movie hour on cable television. I’d say
that goal was met, and is best seen on a quiet afternoon, while one enjoys a
good old fashioned murder mystery.
Rating: Half Price
0 comments:
Post a Comment