Review of Murder on the Orient Express (2017) by Ginak — 13 Nov 2017

I was extremely disappointed with this film. It is not that Branaugh can’t direct. See his “Dead Again” for a film that is both interesting and original. His adaptations of Shakespeare are interesting too.

So what went wrong here? As I was sitting in the theater, bored to tears, I decided that the first problem was the script, which was incredibly bad. The second problem was an inconsistent style. Branaugh wanted to be “modern,” but he just ended up with an irritating and dull film.

Too many of the male characters looked alike, which does not help in a film that has to juggle so many characters and make them distinct. So much acting talent wasted, including Judi Dench! If you want to see a great version of this Christie story, dig up Sidney Lumet’s stylish film where every actor gets to shine and the plot is always coherent, no matter how complicated.

Lumet also understood the glamour of the Orient Express, and Albert Finney is fantastic as Poirot. Another interesting adaptation, although darker, is the British television version with David Suchet.

I went to this Branaugh film with high expectations and was totally disappointed.