Agatha and the Midnight Murders

Well, it's easy to see why the world wants more and more Agatha Christie - and here we have some fairly good fan fiction. Good acting and fairly good dialog. Though, here I have a slight problem with F-bombs being dropped here and there. Fortunately beeped out on PBS. Not really the sort of language one would expect Agatha Christie to use. At least the graphic set scenes that seem all to common in New adaptations has been left out. Though there is one or two scenes of some gore, but, seriously, if you've called Agatha Christie's novels "cozy" you haven't been paying attention. Pretty good plot twist. It'll pass in the dark if you give it a shove. OR, you could return to David Suchet as Poirot.

This fictional story features real life authoress Agatha Christie caught up in another murder mystery. She, and a man she has hired as a driver/bodyguard, are in a London hotel where she is to sell the rights to her latest 'Poirot' story to a wealthy Chinese businessman. When the air raid siren is heard a police woman ushers them, and other guests into the building's cellar. Tensions rise when Agatha realises that somebody has stolen the manuscript of her new novel... that is the least of their worries though; soon a fight leaves one man dead and then another man dies... Agatha suspects foul play. If she is right one of the people in the cellar is a killer and nobody is being allowed to leave till the all clear sounds.

This, the third of Channel Five's films imagining Agatha Christie in a murder case, has a somewhat theatrical feel due to the limited locations. This isn't a problem as having a confined location gave the story a good sense of claustrophobia. The people stuck in the cellar were nicely varied, giving us an interesting group of suspects/potential victims. While it is mostly a drama there are humorous moments; I particularly liked difference between what the Chinese man said, in subtitles, and what his translator said he said. The cast does a solid job, notably Helen Baxendale, who has taken over the role of Agatha Christie. The resolution contained some decent twists and turns so only a few are likely to work everything out before the reveal but most are likely to work out some details. Overall a solid murder mystery that fans of the genre are likely to enjoy.

The opening credit/scene was so unnecessarily gruesome, I nearly turned it off right then and there. But I needn't have worried about that...it had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie. I can't imagine what they were thinking it achieved.

Mind due, if I had turned it off I might have saved myself a few hours of watching mediocre nonsense.

It had the standard formula for a Christie, but that's where the similarities ended. There was very little in the way of mystery, clues or detection and rather just sudden murders, finger pointing and an ongoing manhunt.

I didn't mind some of it, but it the twists were a bit wild.

If this wasn't badged as an Agatha Chistie, it still would be a rambling poorly acted mish mash. We were actually looking forward to the ad breaks. Plodding along with a scattering of swear words, 3rd rate jokes and violent deaths doesn't make an Agatha Christie murder 'mystery'.

Weak and lacking any real punch. A collection of highly unlikely characters brought together in a highly contrived situation with a rather daft storyline and mediocre script. The claustrophobic atmosphere did add a degree of tension but overall there was little in the way of real suspense, just dead bodies everywhere.

The characters were paper-thin and demanded little attention although the performances of Helen Baxendale, Blake Harrison and Jodie McNee were fair enough; the rest had little more than walk-on parts and were eminently forgettable. I watched it without enthusiasm and consider it time not well spent.

The best I can offer is 5 out of 10, mainly for the central performances, and that's being generous.