The greatest movie ever!

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Absolutely Fantastic

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

From the very start of this film (for this is what it is), it is fairly apparent that something has changed since the previous season – but even more so since the days when Poirot was a season of 8 or so 1 hour long episodes. Here we have something that looks like event television and is much more of a film made for TV than it is a TV episode.The visual appearance is the first clue, but the darker tone and significantly reduced comedy element also come into this as well. The plot is a bit stiff at first; being used to more preamble, the device of a woman asking Poirot to investigate the murder of her father, and the conviction and execution of her mother for the crime – well, it seems a bit pat and rushed at first. What it does allow is a mystery that is still about Poirot investigating and deducing, but is also about the people in the mystery – they are not just characters acting as a prop for Poirot, but they are within their own story, separated from him. This approach means that we have the unusual situation of the majority of the supporting cast having more screen time than Poirot himself it seems, but yet it works. And, as much as I like Hastings and Japp, thankfully there was no attempt to force them into this story where they did not fit (although the success of that approach here makes me wonder if they will return soon).The mystery is nicely layered and delivered so that we have multiple versions and perspectives, all with some unique detail and presentation that may or may not be true. It is engaging and satisfying to have the picture built up, but even more satisfying to see Poirot see the trees from the wood. The conclusion is well handled and, although it has a bit of melodrama, it is satisfying and convincing. Less convincing are some aspects that I did think could have done with a rethink or more work. The dark tone and the "importance" of the film is perhaps a bit too laid on, particularly in the early stages before the story gets going. The flashback sequences are also delivered in a way that lacks refinement – the different color palette I understand (although it is obvious as a tool), but I disliked the hand-held camera within this – luckily it is worst early on, so later uses do not feel so bad. I guess it is meant to put us in the moment – but it does not.The cast are very good. Although I missed Suchet's very deft comic touch, he is very sharp here, and I liked the return of his indignation – something not seen for a while in this way. The supporting cast are roundly good and features a surprising amount of famous faces (and, crucially, a member of the cast of The Wire, which always makes me take note). Gillen, Stirling, Stephens, Warren, Mullins, Winkleman (Big Suze!), Jones, Cox, and generally everyone is very good; there are some aspects where I thought they could have played it harder or different, in order to make some plot aspects work (less attraction between the couple for example) but it all works, and there are nice interesting subtexts to some characters that the cast bring out.So a more serious outing, with more cinematic approaches in location and design, but also one that comes with a strong mystery which is well structured and delivered. It may not produce some of the aspects I like about the ITV series thus far, and not all that it does really works as it should, but overall it is one of the more engaging and satisfying for what it does.

Unlike some of the adaptations of Christie' s Poirot, this was very true to the novel. There were a few melodramatic moments in this production that were not true to the novel but they were minor.This is one of the Christie novels where the characterizations were at the heart of the tale. The close-up of all the major characters showed not only how much they suffered from the events of the past but how hollow they had become. It seemed, even in death, the husband and wife were more dynamic than those who orbited around them.The acting was fabulous and Suchet' s Poirot showed subtlety and charm and happily, few of the affectation s he sometimes employed with his quarry and I think Rachael Stirling,as Caroline Crayle was first among equals.This show affected me greatly and won't soon be forgotten.

I have after all this time read the reviews..I was the Set Decorator..and I have to say to work on Death on The Nile and 5 Little Pigs was a joy plus a few others... The period is my favourite . One always hopes'that one gets it right...There are'so many Poirot fans . Any slight error of period will be spotted....So I get rather paranoid to please' just that one expert of Agatha Christie... I still have one or two reminders of Death on The Nile, The menus from The Karnak. My original notes at the time...and a few small pieces that I loaned from my collection... Before this came Jeeves and Wooster with the great Eileen Diss as'designer.. Retirement is now upon me.......No more Poirot, No more Jeeves , Longitude etc..etc..I can now watch out for the errors...and stay silent ...

I saw this when it first aired in 2003, when I was 11, and I was very impressed, really I was. Two years ago, I read the book, and I personally think the book is up there among the best with Death on the Nile and Murder in Mesopotamia. What impressed me most with the TV adaptation, which I got on video recently, was that some of the scenes, like the hanging scene, were genuinely haunting, and that's what I want to feel in a mystery. The music score gave that haunted feeling and some poignancy, in an already complicated story. As far as I can remember, the overall structure was faithful to the book, and I also liked the actress of Caroline Crale, as you really feel for her, and Amias was certainly hissable here in the way they made him behave. Marc Warren and Gemma Jones also do well as Meridith and Mrs Williams. Also what the writers got right were Angela's disfigurement and although it was changed, the ending with Lucy in the lovely dress was very effective. As ever, David Suchet is impeccable as Hercule Poirot, and he is helped by a brooding script. However there were two things I didn't like about the adaptation- the idea of Blake being homosexual(I don't think that was in the book), and Julie Cox was perhaps too old for Elsa. All in all, technically and visually it's a delight to look at, and I enjoyed this adaptation very much, though I do prefer the book. 9/10 Bethany Cox.