Review of Murder on the Orient Express (2017) by Todd H — 28 Nov 2017

I often don't agree with the critics, so it never surprises me to see my favorite movies not do well with a one-time viewing and simple analysis from the so-called experts. Some movies require more than just one viewing to catch everything.

I found myself liking it more and more, the more I watched it. This movie does not rely on stereotypes at all, even for the detective. Every character turns out to be very complex and has a lot of dimension deeper than their initial introduction would reveal.

If Agatha Christie's book was like this, then I think she based some of her ideas on actual events and kidnapping/murder mysteries in history, which I appreciate. Especially for Hollywood, it's a bold move.

For example, it is the first officer who sends off the Jewish child to fetch eggs over and over again, for Poirot's breakfast, who is also hurrying the detective along. "We have 3 religions bent on riot" he says, obviously disrespecting nearly everyone around him, and hoping the great detective will pick up that attitude from him in order to pin the crime on one of the religious leaders.

From that point forward, we see Poirot stubbornly resistant to influence from anybody, even those paying him directly, which is how every detective should be; (we can only wish). Branagh did and excellent job as both the main actor and the director.

It is a very humorous portrayal. I was still laughing at the obsessive-compulsiveness of his character later: "When a detail does not fit, it stands out like a nose in the middle of a face", etc.

The first viewing, I lost patience with the melodramatic climax, which struck me as a bit cheesy like a soap opera, but I later realized: that too is just to bring about the dinner theater feeling. At the same time we discover the twist, we are also brought back to the reality that virtually the whole thing was very much like a play, and I won't say more as I've already come very close to a spoiler.