'Murder On The Orient Express' Is A Bit Of A Mess
- Starring Kenneth Branagh, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr., Penélope Cruz, Josh Gad, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe
- Rated PG-13
- Crime Drama
- Run Time: 1 hr, 54 min
- Directed by Kenneth Branagh
- In theaters November 10, 2017
An all-star cast, a classic novel basis and an experienced director should be enough to make a fairly big-budget film a smash. However, somehow, with Murder on the Orient Express, it creates more of a mess than a masterpiece.
The movie takes on Agatha Christie's mystery by the same name, with very little changes in the main plot line. There's a train, a murder, a famous detective (and his mustache) that happens to be on the train, a search to find the culprit and a twist that shows that even in mysteries written decades ago, there had to be a truly unpredictable ending.
One of the problems with this film is that Christie's story has one of the most famous mystery endings of all time, so if it's known by the audience, the element of surprise is lost early on and makes a lot of the ever-so-sly comments by Detective Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) seem extremely heavy-handed and obvious.
While there are many complaints that can (and have) been made about this film, the acting for the most part is pretty well done. Daisy Ridley shows off her skills outside of the Star Wars franchise, Judi Dench is a very convincing member of royalty as she often is, Leslie Odom Jr. is a delight, especially when opposite Ridley and Josh Gad does perfectly adequate with what he's given.
The issues really come in with the script. The film itself is truly beautiful to watch, but sadly, the weak link may actually be Branagh. There are odd moments of introspection that don't seem to add anything to the plot, including melancholy musings over a photo of someone the audience must assume is a lost love. Cliche phrases pepper his dialogue when he debates right versus wrong and the normally eloquent Branagh comes off a bit clunky.
When taken as a whole, the movie itself is neither amazing nor terrible, which can often cause problems for a film. Mediocrity doesn't get much attention. It's an enjoyable enough film, and despite being about a murder, isn't as dark as many other mysteries that grace theater screens. Who knew a fictional killing on a train could actually be fun for the whole family?