I find these pretty interesting, these heavy adaptations.
I guess the test is not whether it meets somebody's expectations from the book, but whether it works. I'm of the belief that it is rather hard for these things to work unless they get into the core dynamics of Christie, which I believe differed from book to book. Its why I find Christie adaptations fascinating, especially these which seem to be rather fearless.
The book on which this is based is itself fascinating because the building itself is a character. The 1987 version understood this, and adapted its cinematic approach accordingly. This one goes further I think. The cost is that the camera-work seems overly busy at the beginning. There seem to be too many complex tracking shots. These would be simply obvious if we were calibrated to a big screen, but these are essentially and overtly TeeVee productions, so the camera jars a bit.
Its really very well conceived. The camera slides among walls, into the crowd, through windows and so on.
The mystery clips along a little too fast for the material. Its actually fairly rich in clues, parallel plots, and overlapping obfuscation. But all that subtle interplay is overcome by the energy of the thing. This is very energetic.
It features Polly Walker as the aging adventurous. This is inspired casting, since we know where she has been and what she has done. Her screen persona has been in dangerous situations in terms of the risk she has personally taken. "8 1/2 Women" by itself matters. But she is old and tired looking here. That's fine, I suppose. I am too. But it pulls the center out of the story. This character was supposed to be still vital, still an able competitor to her daughter.
The thing that might make you gag if you are a viewer with my tastes. There seems to be a cuteness czar in the producer's office who has added elements intended to endear. I imagine it is a woman. She's added some past for our Jane to explain her spinsterhood and to give her an excuse for fawning over the past. Its tolerable, but they've gone further here, having a second, protégé Jane who does the detecting. So far so good, but at the end there is syrupy romantic coupling that's so out of tune you will forget everything that went before.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
I guess the test is not whether it meets somebody's expectations from the book, but whether it works. I'm of the belief that it is rather hard for these things to work unless they get into the core dynamics of Christie, which I believe differed from book to book. Its why I find Christie adaptations fascinating, especially these which seem to be rather fearless.
The book on which this is based is itself fascinating because the building itself is a character. The 1987 version understood this, and adapted its cinematic approach accordingly. This one goes further I think. The cost is that the camera-work seems overly busy at the beginning. There seem to be too many complex tracking shots. These would be simply obvious if we were calibrated to a big screen, but these are essentially and overtly TeeVee productions, so the camera jars a bit.
Its really very well conceived. The camera slides among walls, into the crowd, through windows and so on.
The mystery clips along a little too fast for the material. Its actually fairly rich in clues, parallel plots, and overlapping obfuscation. But all that subtle interplay is overcome by the energy of the thing. This is very energetic.
It features Polly Walker as the aging adventurous. This is inspired casting, since we know where she has been and what she has done. Her screen persona has been in dangerous situations in terms of the risk she has personally taken. "8 1/2 Women" by itself matters. But she is old and tired looking here. That's fine, I suppose. I am too. But it pulls the center out of the story. This character was supposed to be still vital, still an able competitor to her daughter.
The thing that might make you gag if you are a viewer with my tastes. There seems to be a cuteness czar in the producer's office who has added elements intended to endear. I imagine it is a woman. She's added some past for our Jane to explain her spinsterhood and to give her an excuse for fawning over the past. Its tolerable, but they've gone further here, having a second, protégé Jane who does the detecting. So far so good, but at the end there is syrupy romantic coupling that's so out of tune you will forget everything that went before.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.