I was quite taken aback by the reviews here, but for good reason. I read all of the Agatha Christie books and stories years and years ago. Truthfully I can't remember some of them in great detail. While I found "Sleeping Murder" confusing, I didn't realize nearly everything about Christie's story had been changed.
I'll also be brutally honest - I liked Joan Hickson's acting, but she wasn't my idea of Miss Marple. She wasn't lively enough. You know how it is, you read a book and you get a picture in your mind. Mine was always Helen Hayes, don't ask me why - a little old lady with bright eyes and a beautiful smile and a sharp mind. I have to agree - this Marple, Geraldine McEwan, is too knowing. Miss Marple in the books had a cheerful, nonthreatening way about her, and she always solved the mysteries by making a comparison to happenings in the village of St. Mary Mead.
Anyway, I digress - this story apparently retains very little of the original. It's gorgeous to look at - excellent production values, incredible landscapes and costumes, and period pieces. Sophia Myles was lovely as Gwenda. I couldn't figure out the relationships between the members of the comedy troupe either. Also, another reviewer is correct, nobody just picked up the phone from India and dashed off a call to England like it was one street over and vice versa.
The story, such as it is, is a good one. It's just not an Agatha Christie story.
I'll also be brutally honest - I liked Joan Hickson's acting, but she wasn't my idea of Miss Marple. She wasn't lively enough. You know how it is, you read a book and you get a picture in your mind. Mine was always Helen Hayes, don't ask me why - a little old lady with bright eyes and a beautiful smile and a sharp mind. I have to agree - this Marple, Geraldine McEwan, is too knowing. Miss Marple in the books had a cheerful, nonthreatening way about her, and she always solved the mysteries by making a comparison to happenings in the village of St. Mary Mead.
Anyway, I digress - this story apparently retains very little of the original. It's gorgeous to look at - excellent production values, incredible landscapes and costumes, and period pieces. Sophia Myles was lovely as Gwenda. I couldn't figure out the relationships between the members of the comedy troupe either. Also, another reviewer is correct, nobody just picked up the phone from India and dashed off a call to England like it was one street over and vice versa.
The story, such as it is, is a good one. It's just not an Agatha Christie story.