More confession time! 😀
Along with being a big fan of Jessica Fletcher, I’m also a big fan of Hercule Poirot. And Murder on the Orient Express is probably one of my favorite mysteries ever written. So imagine my excitement when I caught wind of the following trailer:
As you can imagine, this is pretty darn exciting for me. And Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot actually makes sense (even if that mustache is damn near comical).
Of course, there’s one problem… Johnny Depp is in it, and y’all already know how I feel about him.
I’m willing to overlook it in this case for one reason:
This is a spoiler for Murder on the Orient Express, but… he plays Ratchett, the murder victim. So he pretty much won’t be in the film for very long at all, and besides… his character is a nasty sleezebag who gets his comeuppance. I’ll also very likely get someone else to buy the ticket for me, so it won’t be my money supporting something he’s in.
But despite him, I’m pretty excited for this.
I guess the next step is… could someone please convince Angela Lansbury to take a last bow as Jessica Fletcher in a Murder, She Wrote movie? Maybe it could be a passing of the torch kind of thing… Jessica takes a new mystery-solving author under her wing… or something like that.
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
There is no way it’s going to be better than the 1974 version. No way.
HEY! Spoiler alerts, please!
Though I already figured out whodunnit from the trailer. (Hint: The movie”s called “Murder On The Orient Express”.)
@Marcus Honestly, I much prefer the 2010 version with David Suchet to the 1974 movie, but then again, David Suchet is how I was introduced to Poirot.
ETA: Also? It’s Kenneth Branagh. I’m a huge fan of Kenneth Branagh’s work (oof… *goes googling to see how he’s problematic*), both as a director and as an actor. So with him alone I expect this to at least be good.
@Tabby Lavalamp
But I did give a spoiler warning… 🙁
But also, the book is old, and this story has been adapted to movie and TV so many times, and IMDB lists Johnny Depp as Ratchett, so it’s not really a spoiler that most people don’t already know…
Nathan @3: Yes, Suchet is the definitive Poirot for me, as Joan Hickson is the definitive Miss Marple*. The Suchet version of Orient Express was much darker than the others I’ve seen (including the 1974 version), and just worked better as drama, IMO.
*I love the Margaret Rutherford films, but they’re way off the character in the books.
Nathan, I was joking. 🙂 I don’t know if we’ve become more spoiler-phobic since the internet or if the internet just makes it feel that way, but there should definitely be a time limit on having to tiptoe around people who aren’t aware of what happens in a story and this one would be weeelllllll past that time limit.
@Tabby Lavalamp
Ah. Sorry.
And I agree completely. In fact, I’m considering writing a post focused on Murder on the Orient Express and Curtains, using them to try and start a conversation about justice. Having just watched the Suchet versions of both, I think there’s a through-line. In Curtains, Poirot becomes what he condemns, though ultimately allows, in Orient Express, and I think both have fascinating things to say about justice, especially in today’s society.
Would be very interesting to see a Poirot, Miss Marple, and Jessica Fletcher all working within today’s lopsided justice system.
Nathan @6:
The killers in Orient Express were seeking revenge. Poirot killed Norton because he saw no other way to stop an active serial killer.
I’m not sure the distinction is so great. The killers in Orient Express tried justice, and it failed them. In Curtains, Poirot seemed to know that justice would fail, as well. It’s really only a difference of degrees. I think both stories revolved around the question of what happens, and what should happen, when justice fails?
Nathan @8: The distinction is vast. Yes, the common thread is the failure of society’s idea of justice. But the Orient Express killers sought their version of payment for past lost and ruined lives. They didn’t care whether Cassetti would kill again. Poirot actually saved lives, because he knew Norton would kill again. That’s not a question of degree.
Sorry, Rob. Yes. I don’t disagree with you. The point isn’t a comparison of the motives, but of the act itself. In both cases, the family and Poirot took justice into their own hands.
I think they both provide a very sticky look at justice.