Director Kenneth Branagh tones down the mustache as Hercule Poirot but amps up more horror than mystery in this, his third adaptation of Agatha Christie. As in Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, Branagh puts A-listers in stunning settings while creating much more of a theater piece. This one is better than the first two, but darker and slower.
The scenes of 1947 Venice are magnificent and so is the creepy haunted palazzo where a seance may determine what happened to the latest victim. There are one or two jump cares as, in Christie style, the finger of guilt points in multiple directions. Based on Christie’s 1969 novel “Hallowe’en Party,” the screenplay was written by Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049). Although it’s fun to see people in costume in Venice right from the start, there’s nothing festive about this film.
We first meet Hercule Poirot in Venice as a retired master detective and become a bit of a hermit. He is always accompanied by bodyguard, Baker, (Dylan Corbett-Bader) who uses extreme force against anyone who tries to approach crime solver.
Needy mystery author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) shows up to pull him back into service. Fey delivers a fast-talking Rosalind Russell/Katherine Hepburn tongue-in-cheek plea for Poirot to go on one more case to give her material for a new book. Her last 3 have been bombs.
Fey plays mildly humorous deadpan, begging Poirot to go with her to investigate the unexplained death of the daughter of Palazzo owner and famous opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly). Alicia Drake (Rowan Robinson) died under mysterious circumstances. Did she jump or was she pushed off the balcony into the Venetian canal? Poirot finally relents to Ariadne’s snappy appeals for him to get involved.
At the old, dank and dreary palazzo, rumored to be haunted, they they meet Rowena and Rowena’s housekeeper/assistant Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin. Stillwater, House of Gucci). We also meet Dr. Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan) who treated the late Alicia and his son, Leopold Ferrier (Jude Hill), a precocious little kid who keeps his Dad in line. The doctor fought in WWII and is suffering from Battle Fatigue, known as PTSD today. Dornan and Hill also played father and son in Branagh’s Belfast. Hill is another talented child actor who takes control of every scene. We found Jude the most engaging of the players.
Everybody’s a suspect and she’s no exception. Rowena seems beside herself, summoning famous Psychic advisor Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh). Poirot quickly questions her psychic abilities. Coming off her recent screen triumphs, we felt that Yeoh’s performance here was understated, even during dramatic moments. This didn’t create the chaos nor excitement we think Branagh seemed to be going for.
There are a few clues we picked up on early in the film for what may have happened to poor Alicia. Branagh uses odd camera angles and movement to try to keep us off balance. The script telegraphs who the eventual killer is so there wasn’t much of a surprise.
With such a great cast, location and setting Branagh’s inscrutable Poirot is not nearly as evocative nor tongue-in-cheek entertaining. By the time the case wraps up, we found it more undaunting than haunting.
20th Century Studios 1 hour 43 minutes Pg-13
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