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Great review. Agatha Christie was a name I’d heard forever and just assumed maybe my grandma read decades ago. When I finally started reading her a few years ago I got the hype. Quick reads but typically pretty engrossing. I loved the Orient Express remake movie so I’m looking forward to seeing this adaptation too.

My daughter and I have our tickets for Friday night! I'm excited. Even if it sucks, I'll still be excited to see an Agatha Adaptation on the big screen.

I own this and I'm so torn between reading the book first or watching the film first.

@Mwana I would say to read the book first, because if you see the movie first the book will hold no surprises, but the movie is still liable to surprise you by possibly switching things up.

mwana wrote: "I own this and I'm so torn between reading the book first or watching the film first."

watch the movie first.
i find with mystery/thriller movies it is more enjoyable if you do not see the twists coming. with books i can still enjoy the story even when i have accurately guessed the twists.

also the screen adaptations are rarely as good as the books. so i tend to be a lil disappointed when i see one if i have just read the book.

I’m not seeing a lot of the characters listed in the cast, so I’m guessing the movie will be different. I can’t imagine that they’ll switch up the whodunnit, but��
I’m seeing it tonight!

I’m gonna cheat and watch the movie. But! Reading my way through A-X

Russell wrote: "I’m gonna cheat and watch the movie. But! Reading my way through A-X"


NO! That movie was NOT the book. The characters were either completely missing or had been sliced and diced. Tim Allerton and Colonel Race were sort of smashed into one character and then given Mrs. Salome Otterbourne's ending. WTF?
Salome Otterbourne, instead of being a drunken writer who made her daughter's life miserable (and also made Rosalie a suspect for a time due to spoilery stuff), was turned into a hot jazz singer and a love interest for Poirot.
A LOVE INTEREST FOR POIROT!?
Cornelia Robson, the character who has a fun arc with a giant twist at the end, is completely missing.
Mr. Ferguson & Miss Marie Van Schuyler are smushed into one person, and her nurse...
(view spoiler)[Miss Bowers the nurse is there to return the stuff that the elderly Van Schuyler steal due to her cleptomania. In the book, this adds to the confusion of the jewel robbery. BUT here they are lesbians traveling together. Which was fine, but it took out a chunk of the mystery. (hide spoiler)]
Dr. Bessner is mashed up with another guy (I can't remember his name) that Linnet was thinking of marrying before she met Simon. However, in the book (view spoiler)[ Mr. Ferguson was an obnoxious socialist who was trying to get the sweet Cornelia to marry him. Miss Van Schuyler wouldn't let him near her niece because she thought he was low-class. Once she discovers (through Poirot) that he's actually Lord Dawlish, she approves of the match. However, Cornelia surprises everyone and announces that she will marry the sweet Dr. Bessner because he thinks she's smart and treats her like an equal (hide spoiler)]. Without those characters, you lose a big part of the story.
Also, Mrs. Allerton (Tim/Bouc's mother) is an entirely different human being.
In the book, she immediately feels sorry for Rosalie and takes her under her wing. She's that sweet mother that everyone loves.
In the movie, they turned her into this HORRIBLE woman who clings to her son and refuses to let him marry. She's terrible to Rosalie. The ending is completely changed for these characters, as well. (view spoiler)[In the book, Poirot uncovers Tim as a jewel thief, but realizes Rosalie loves him and could get him to straighten up. He gives him a chance to go straight and Tim takes it. He and Rosalie marry and his mother is thrilled because she already loves Rosalie. Rosalie loves Tim's mother, too.
In the movie, Tim/Bouc gets shot and killed instead of Rosalie Ottorborne's mother. So...? (hide spoiler)]
Every happy ending is gone in the movie. And I think it was just so Brannagh could film more close-ups of himself crying.
Ugh.
The movie sucked the life out of the book.

And fans of Poirot (the real Poirot) will be SUPER PISSED at the idea that Poirot grew his famous mustaches because he was scarred in the war and his true love told him to grow them. Then he SHAVES OFF HIS MUSTACHES AT THE END to visit his new love interest.
Fuck that.
He did actually shave off his mustaches once, but it was to disguise himself so he could save Hastings.

OH NO! I had been excited to see the movie (hubs promised a valentine's week excursion) but now I'm thinking... I'll ask for something else. :(

mwana wrote: "I own this and I'm so torn between reading the book first or watching the film first."

Soooo... it looks like Anne was severely disappointed in the film. this is why i always say watch the screen adaptation first. they almost always are a huge disappointment when compared to the book.

if you read the book after watching you appreciate the story more. plus sometimes actors look just like how the author described them.

Minna wrote: "OH NO! I had been excited to see the movie (hubs promised a valentine's week excursion) but now I'm thinking... I'll ask for something else. :("

I was SO excited for this. Watched it with my 13 year old daughter who (for unexplainable reasons) loved to watch the David Suchet Poirot mysteries with me years ago, and even she was really disappointed by the film. lol
Dude, you let down a 13 year old Poirot fan! But hell, we had a good time anyway, so there's that.

Kay Dee wrote: "mwana wrote: "I own this and I'm so torn between reading the book first or watching the film first."

Soooo... it looks like Anne was severely disappointed in the film. this is why i always say wat..."

And here's the thing, Kay Dee, I'm totally ok with the movie or tv show being different. I even prefer some of the movies. Stardust's movie ending was better than the book, IMHO! And when they switch it up, that just means that you get another version or outlook on the story. This just took all of the good stuff and threw it in the trash, and added in a bunch of nonsense.

I think re movie I will stick with my favourite version with Peter Ustinov. 😁

Sarah wrote: "I think re movie I will stick with my favourite version with Peter Ustinov. 😁"

YES. Or the one with David Suchet and Emily Blunt. Either of those is 100% a better choice.

Anne wrote: "A LOVE INTEREST FOR POIROT!?. ..."

WTF??????????

Clare wrote: "Anne wrote: "A LOVE INTEREST FOR POIROT!?. ..."

WTF??????????"

My sentiment exactly. It was...weird.
Honestly, it would have been fine if it were any other character in the entire world. But just the fact that his love interest should have been a boozy author who (view spoiler)[was killed off (hide spoiler)] and her daughter was the one who should have had a HEA with her love interest, made it 100xs worse. Rosalie & Tim were two of my favorites and I was looking forward to that part in the movie. They f-ed up one of the best storylines in the book.
TO GIVE POIROT A LOVE INTEREST!

Enjoying your reaction to Poirot's love interest so much. :)

Branagh has mucked up in several films. Been some good films he was in, but real turkeys too. The Agatha Christie attempts fall in the latter.

CD wrote: "Branagh has mucked up in several films. Been some good films he was in, but real turkeys too. The Agatha Christie attempts fall in the latter."

Yesterday my Dad was telling me how amaaaaazing Branagh is. I should ask him if that includes Death on the Nile.

Marquise wrote: "Enjoying your reaction to Poirot's love interest so much. :)"

If it hadn't been Poirot, I would have loved those two together.

CD wrote: "Branagh has mucked up in several films. Been some good films he was in, but real turkeys too. The Agatha Christie attempts fall in the latter."

Agreed. He needs to back slowly away and let someone who understands the character take the reigns. Go harass Shakespeare some more, Ken.

Clare wrote: "Yesterday my Dad was telling me how amaaaaazing Branagh is. I should ask him if that includes Death on the Nile."

And yet...this was still better than his Murder on the Orient Express.

My guess is the Poirot love interest serves more as a fluffing of Branagh's vanity than an attempt to establish/evolve Poirot's character.


I've never liked Branagh...

One of my top 10 favorite Christie's! But yeah, the new movie was atrocious. I'm not a "the movie must match the novel word-for-word" type, but this was so far off it was ridiculous.

Marquise wrote: "Enjoying your reaction to Poirot's love interest so much. :)"

same. she is so passionate. lol.😆
makes me want to watch it just to see if it is really that awful.

Anne wrote: "And yet...this was still better than his Murder on the Orient Express."

He loved Murder on the Orient Express 🙊 my Dad officially has no taste

Iris wrote: "My guess is the Poirot love interest serves more as a fluffing of Branagh's vanity than an attempt to establish/evolve Poirot's character.


I've never liked Branagh..."

I like him less and less as the years go on. I think I fell out of love with him when he left Emma Thompson, to be honest.

Meredith! wrote: "One of my top 10 favorite Christie's! But yeah, the new movie was atrocious. I'm not a "the movie must match the novel word-for-word" type, but this was so far off it was ridiculous."

Me too! I really kind of like it when they switch up a few things here and there so it isn't like watching the EXACT same thing. Also, happy when they update things or fix problematic stuff from back in the day.
But the way he reworked the plot was just awful and depressing. Plus, the dancing was...weird.

Clare wrote: "Anne wrote: "And yet...this was still better than his Murder on the Orient Express."

He loved Murder on the Orient Express 🙊 my Dad officially has no taste"

You have to love em anyway.

Kay Dee wrote: "Marquise wrote: "Enjoying your reaction to Poirot's love interest so much. :)"

same. she is so passionate. lol.😆
makes me want to watch it just to see if it is really that awful."

No! The love interest isn't necessarily bad FOR ANYONE OTHER THAN POIROT who has been like an asexual Sherlock Holmes for the entirety of all his books. But Brannah created not ONE but TWO love interests for him in this lovely-to-look-at time suck.

Do i need follow a certain order reading hearcule poirot or miss marple's stories? Or can they be read as standalone

They can all be read standalone. I've done that for years and years with these books.

I completely agree with you about the Kenneth Branagh movie. It left out some of the best things about the book. I liked him well enough as Poirot, but didn't understand why he made the changes he made.

My husband and I were wanting to watch this movie so badly! We loved Murder on the Orient Express and were expecting the same for this one. I finished reading the book yesterday so we watched it last night, and I have never been more disappointed in a movie adaptation! The book was so well done, and the movie did not do it ANY justice.

Tammie wrote: "I completely agree with you about the Kenneth Branagh movie. It left out some of the best things about the book. I liked him well enough as Poirot, but didn't understand why he made the changes he ..."

I didn't either. Some were fine, but the lack of HEA pissed me off.

Dani wrote: "My husband and I were wanting to watch this movie so badly! We loved Murder on the Orient Express and were expecting the same for this one. I finished reading the book yesterday so we watched it la..."

YES! The book was really perfect as is. I mean, I liked the lesbians and the addition of (shit what's her name?) the cool chick from Black Panther, but why fuck it up for the lovebirds at the end? It hurt my heart!
And then Poirot shaving his mustaches for a woman? NO!

Anne wrote: "And then Poirot shaving his mustaches for a woman? NO!"

OH.MY.GOD!!!!!


like how was that allowed???!!!
how did soooooooooo many people sign off on that??!!!!!!!
like ugh.
so blasphemous.

Blasphemy is right. It was weird!

Gal Gadot is a purdy lady. 🤩

I've heard that...

Couldn't agree more with both your thoughts on the novel and the movie! Remembering how well Kenneth Branagh did with all the Shakespearean stuff, I was extremely disappointed to see how he butchered the Agatha Christie adaptations.

Yes! I was excited when I first heard he was rebooting the movies. They might as well have given Tim Burton a whack at them for all Branagh stuck to the original stories.
I'm ok with some of the updating that he did, don't get me wrong. But he seriously changed the outcome of the story for this one and not for the better.

I hate how Kenneth Branagh insists on shoehorning in love interests and a tragic past for Poirot. That’s not his character in the books at all!

I KNOW! Ugh. I love that Poirot is getting new life on the big screen but I think Branagh is the wrong guy for the job. He doesn't seem to be an actual fan.

Very nice review, Anne. I liked it a lot, but even more your comments on the film. I finished the book a couple days ago and watched the movie later, and every thought I had about it you have already wrote down here. Except for Bouc's ending, which I dind't like but worked well, the rest of the changes were awful.

I didn't know Race's character as I haven't read the other books, but i'm intrigued about it, i'll check them out at the library.

Colonel Race appears in 4 novels, even if he isn't the star of the show. I like him! Here is the list of his books if you're interested:
/series/7639...

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind for reading them in order

Hope you enjoy your Christie books!

I loved this story so much that I'm still thinking of which actors/actresses across the ages that I would like for the different roles.

Kenneth Branagh’s films are revisitations of the
Books, and I think they’re good by themselves. The pity of the Nile adaptation wasn’t the story of characters but the visuals. Those chromas are awful. By the other hand, I did enjoy his two first efforts despite its flaws, but I think A haunting in Venice is a terrific movie, one of the best that ever adapted a AC book.