TheSTORY-0.75
Oh, dear! Poor old Agatha will be rolling and fuming in her grave with this travesty. Everything that a Christie Novel has is sadly missing in this tale of... well... boring mystery.
With a well-crafted mystery, the writer needs to get his audience hooked into trying to solve whodunnit and why. Unfortunately, Tom Dalton doesn't provide us with this. In truth, I found it very hard to actually give a damn about what was going on. All the characters were two dimensional and uninspired. The twists and turns were too straight and easily predicted. Worst of all was the "strange murder". Granted a hanged monkey is pretty weird and even though I am an animal lover I still couldn't bring myself to care. It all appeared too staged. Too contrived... and not in a good way. Then it only gets worse with the funny moments, which were nothing but dire and mirthless.
theDIRECTION-0.75
Oh, this was just as bad as the story. Sam Yates has some wonderful moments where he could have added atmosphere and used some nice camera techniques but fails awesomely. Right at the start, when the mystery kicks off we are in a dusty hole in the ground with an archaeologist and his trusted guide. This would have been a lot better had the hole been darker, moodier, and scarier. This would have given the audience a shiver and started to prep them for the dying man. Then the finding of the dying man would have been more powerful. Different camera angles and added soundtrack ambience would have worked wonders here.
Yates does show he has an eye for composition when we get to the hanged monkey scene. The trouble is nobody movies after the initial reveal. They stay glued to their X's. This makes the entire scene then feel fake and unnatural.
And then for the humorous scenes... well, I could go on and on, but I won't. The direction could have been so much better.
theTEMPO-0.5
This bar far is the worst thing that Yates could do to the story. As stated above the story is boring so the last thing it needs is a slow pace... let alone this tortoise velocity he gives us. He doesn't even pick up the pace in the few action sequences. The pace is one of the main reasons this film falls flat so quickly.
theACTING-0.75
I have to say that the actors, at no time, feel as though they are phoning their parts in or do they appear bored. They guys and gals do the best with what they have. It's just unfortunate that they don't have a lot to work with. Even Lyndsey Marshall, as Agatha, and Jonah Hauer-King, as Max Mallowan, try to form a chemistry on-screen. However, it doesn't come across as sensual or as powerful as it should have and I am putting this down to Yates' direction and Dalton's story.
theGRATIFICATION-0.75
If you are looking for a murder mystery where you can solve whodunnit and maybe get an insight into the character of Agatha Christie then I would wholeheartedly recommend staying away from this film.
In fact, I would recommend staying away from this film unless you are having trouble sleeping. In which case, get in bed and turn this on... you should be asleep in about fifteen minutes.
theSCORE-3.5
Head on over to my The Game Is Afoot list to see where I've ranked this one and to possibly find something fresh and new'ish to watch.
Oh, dear! Poor old Agatha will be rolling and fuming in her grave with this travesty. Everything that a Christie Novel has is sadly missing in this tale of... well... boring mystery.
With a well-crafted mystery, the writer needs to get his audience hooked into trying to solve whodunnit and why. Unfortunately, Tom Dalton doesn't provide us with this. In truth, I found it very hard to actually give a damn about what was going on. All the characters were two dimensional and uninspired. The twists and turns were too straight and easily predicted. Worst of all was the "strange murder". Granted a hanged monkey is pretty weird and even though I am an animal lover I still couldn't bring myself to care. It all appeared too staged. Too contrived... and not in a good way. Then it only gets worse with the funny moments, which were nothing but dire and mirthless.
theDIRECTION-0.75
Oh, this was just as bad as the story. Sam Yates has some wonderful moments where he could have added atmosphere and used some nice camera techniques but fails awesomely. Right at the start, when the mystery kicks off we are in a dusty hole in the ground with an archaeologist and his trusted guide. This would have been a lot better had the hole been darker, moodier, and scarier. This would have given the audience a shiver and started to prep them for the dying man. Then the finding of the dying man would have been more powerful. Different camera angles and added soundtrack ambience would have worked wonders here.
Yates does show he has an eye for composition when we get to the hanged monkey scene. The trouble is nobody movies after the initial reveal. They stay glued to their X's. This makes the entire scene then feel fake and unnatural.
And then for the humorous scenes... well, I could go on and on, but I won't. The direction could have been so much better.
theTEMPO-0.5
This bar far is the worst thing that Yates could do to the story. As stated above the story is boring so the last thing it needs is a slow pace... let alone this tortoise velocity he gives us. He doesn't even pick up the pace in the few action sequences. The pace is one of the main reasons this film falls flat so quickly.
theACTING-0.75
I have to say that the actors, at no time, feel as though they are phoning their parts in or do they appear bored. They guys and gals do the best with what they have. It's just unfortunate that they don't have a lot to work with. Even Lyndsey Marshall, as Agatha, and Jonah Hauer-King, as Max Mallowan, try to form a chemistry on-screen. However, it doesn't come across as sensual or as powerful as it should have and I am putting this down to Yates' direction and Dalton's story.
theGRATIFICATION-0.75
If you are looking for a murder mystery where you can solve whodunnit and maybe get an insight into the character of Agatha Christie then I would wholeheartedly recommend staying away from this film.
In fact, I would recommend staying away from this film unless you are having trouble sleeping. In which case, get in bed and turn this on... you should be asleep in about fifteen minutes.
theSCORE-3.5
Head on over to my The Game Is Afoot list to see where I've ranked this one and to possibly find something fresh and new'ish to watch.