I have to admit that Agatha Christie isn't one of my favourite authors. I do like the detective and whodunit genres quite extensively but Christie always approaches them from an angle that doesn't really interest me so much. I enjoy stories dotted with clues that give the viewer a chance to work out the murderer for themselves but in Christie adaptations you often don't get the opportunity because the motivations are only revealed later on.
In addition, the exposition always feels quite clunky and heavy handed; an approach that works better on the written page, I should imagine, than on the screen. So I approached MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS with some trepidation. I needn't have worried too much, because in the hands of famed director Sidney Lumet this is solid stuff, enlivened by an incredible all star cast and slick production values. The setting is brought to life in a vivid way and the train setting is appropriately claustrophobia. Albert Finney's lead is a bit of a distraction in a caricaturish kind of way but the likes of Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Richard Widmark, and George Coulouris are quite excellent. Anthony Perkins has a role that hilariously references PSYCHO and Lauren Bacall is memorably icy. Fans of the author will be in their element.
In addition, the exposition always feels quite clunky and heavy handed; an approach that works better on the written page, I should imagine, than on the screen. So I approached MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS with some trepidation. I needn't have worried too much, because in the hands of famed director Sidney Lumet this is solid stuff, enlivened by an incredible all star cast and slick production values. The setting is brought to life in a vivid way and the train setting is appropriately claustrophobia. Albert Finney's lead is a bit of a distraction in a caricaturish kind of way but the likes of Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Richard Widmark, and George Coulouris are quite excellent. Anthony Perkins has a role that hilariously references PSYCHO and Lauren Bacall is memorably icy. Fans of the author will be in their element.