Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Olivia Colman, Daisy Ridley, Leslie
Odom Jr, Josh Gad, Willem Dafoe, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Derek Jacobi, Judi
Dench, Marwan Kenzari
Run Time: 1:54
US Release Date: November 10, 2017
Rated: PG-13 (Violence)
It seems like an odd choice in this day and age to take a
novel from the 1930’s, a slow paced novel bereft of any real action scenes, and
faithfully translate it for the screen in 2017. Casting a mixture of today’s
rising stars and elite Hollywood royalty is a further head scratcher. Just who
was this film made for? The trailer plays up the action scenes while also
emphasizing a mystery that has been around for over 80 years and has existed in
film form since the mid seventies. The modern movie-goer has probably never
seen that 1974 film nor read the original Agatha Christie novel and thus can’t
be expected to be familiar with the story, yet the mystery will feel familiar
and play out roughly as expected because of that familiarity.
Christie’s novel has been adapted three previous times into
film. The first and most well known version was released in 1974 and featured a
cast that included the likes of Sean Connery, Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall,
Richard Widmark, Martin Belsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony
Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Michael York, all well known actors of the time.
Aside from a rather quirky performance by Finney as the genius detective Poirot
this was a straight forward retelling of the novel. Finney played the part so
broadly that at times it felt like parody. He was really in a film of his own
and it was jarring at the time. Still, as a whole the film worked and, while
not a timeless classic, it holds up as solid entertainment.
The same cannot be said for the two following adaptions.
2001’s version was made for TV. This time around the story has been modernized,
no longer taking place in the 30’s but in the era of internet. Much of this
version is played out the same as before making it a jolting film that only
occasionally reminds you that it is not a period piece. Once again we get a
star cast, although not nearly as impressive of a pedigree: Alfred Molina,
Meredith Baxter and Leslie Caron are the biggest names here and none of them
manage to elevate what is ultimately a made-for-TV vibe.
Then came the 2010 version. From 1989-2013 BBC-TV aired a
television series entitled Poirot and during the course of the series every
Agatha Christie story and novel involving detective Poirot was produced. This led
to Murder on the Orient Express getting an episode eventually. This version has
an even less well known cast, at least to those of us in the states, but there
are a few performers that stand out to me: David Morrissey and Jessica Chastain
have made a name for themselves in recent years and Toby Jones was a welcome
familiar face from years past. But the film itself is dismal and plodding
despite having a rather short running time of only eighty minutes. The ending
was changed somewhat to add a crisis of conscience for the lead character of
Poirot that existed in none of the previous versions. David Suchet’s Poirot was
a stuffed shirt who shouts out moral judgments like a preacher and distances
himself from those around him and us the audience as well. It’s a capable, if
very stuffy film that suffers from familiarity to the source material.
Then comes this, the most recent adaption. Harkening back to
the original film the cast of characters are made up of who’s who of Hollywood
and the international cinema. There’s someone here from every modern era of
film to appease to the older generation as well as the millennials. Kenneth
Branagh leads the pack as Poirot. He is supported by the likes of Daisy Ridley
(Star Wars – The Force Awakens), Penelope Cruz (Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger
Tides), Johnny Depp (Edward Sissorhands), Leslie Odom, Jr (Red Tails), Lucy
Boynton (Sing Street), Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface), Judi Dench (Casino
Royale), Josh Gad (Love and Other Drugs), and Willem Dafoe (The Grand Budapest
Hotel). Each holds their own and brings some panache to a very familiar
proceeding. The real question going into this film is is it worth going into it
when one is familiar to the story. Also, does it work if one is not familiar
with it.
The story is pretty straight forward. Hercule Poirot
(Kenneth Branagh) is a world famous detective traveling on the Orient Express
en route to another case. While on the way the train is stopped by an avalanche
and one of the passengers is murdered. No one could have left the train so the
murderer must be among the passengers. The bulk of the film is Poirot
interrogating the passengers one by one while piecing the testimonies and clues
together to figure what happened and how.
I came at it from both perspectives having seen all versions
and reading the book prior to checking in for this one. My wife accompanied me
without any of that baggage. The mystery unfolded exactly the same way it did
in the other versions, this time with a little bit of action peppered into it
to appease a crowd that might not be used
to a slower paced film. Still, three quarters of the way through my wife
had the mystery figured out. There is enough foreshadowing to figure the whole
thing out for those who are unfamiliar and for those who are there is a
fascination with how this new cast and crew will present these characters and
motivations in a way that will speak to a modern audience. For those who prefer
the shaky action films of Michael Bay this film will bore them to tears. For
those who don’t mind a slower pace and good characters this will be a delight
to watch. It is an actor’s film through and through. The few action scenes
added to break up the mystery a little feel natural and only stand out when
compared to the other films that didn’t have those moments.
The story holds up even though it is a well known mystery.
It is not quite as well known as And Then There Were None, but still familiar
enough that those who see it should recognize where it’s headed. There is a
twist to the ending that is true to the novel and films and does not come out
of nowhere; it can be predicted if you pay attention to the investigation. The
ending cribs some from the 2010 Poirot episode but not quite as harshly. It is
a happy middle ground that plays better and doesn’t leave us with a bitter
taste in the mouth about our protagonist. Who is this film made for? Hopefully
a new audience that will feel inspired to pick up the book and experience a
truly gifted mystery writer from the past. It holds up as an example of an older property that can still hold its own in the modern cinema landscape without changing its character into something barely resembling the novel. In this day and age that is rare.
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