Towards Zero

You never know what you are going to get with these Marples. Its always a mystery, but sometimes you will hit a happy combination of story, adapter and director. This is such a happy time. I do not know the director, but can see that he has substantial experience in at least staging and getting the actors adjusted to the enterprise. Some of these actors are known to us, and they really are comparatively excellent.

One character, the rich old woman, is a terrific character, worth admission by herself. The mystery is kept pretty close to the narrative so you have a pretty good chance of actually working on it. Usually, the deal is that you just have to wait until the end and act surprised. Oddly, the denouement here on a boat is the only weak segment. The detective trick this time is easy to spot if you know the sorts of tricks Christie liked to play with the Marple series. That business about tennis should be a clue.

Saffron Burrows must have it hard, being able to be cast as a pretty one. Here she manages to be something else, a rather sorry face in fact until the very end where she is transformed. Pretty good effect if you know the actress.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

"Towards Zero" is another entry into the controversial Geraldine McEwan Miss Marple series, known for its great production values and rewriting of Agatha Christie. This Christie story is intact except for the addition of Miss Marple. It's quite a good plot, too, with top actors.

Miss Marple visits a friend from school, Camilla Tressilian (Eileen Atkins), while staying at a nearby hotel, and Lady Camilla has a few people who are also visiting, and it's a bit uncomfortable. There's her nephew, Neville Strange (Greg Wise), a tennis star, with his new wife Kay (Zoe Tapper) and his former wife, Audrey. Normally they don't visit at the same time, but Neville ran into Audrey (Saffron Burrows) and she seemed fine about it, so he and Kay are going to visit his aunt now and taking another trip at a time when they would normally visit her. However, Kay is very bothered by Audrey's presence and Neville's attention to her. Also on hand is Freddie Treves (Tom Baker), a retired attorney, a male friend of Kay's, and a childhood friend of Audrey's; she was engaged to his brother, who was killed in an auto accident.

One night as the group is sitting around drinking, Freddie tells the story of a child who accidentally killed another child with a bow and arrow -- except that it wasn't an accident, but murder. He said he would always recognize this child, even as an adult, because of a physical abnormality. When he gets back to his hotel, there's a sign on the elevator stating it is out of order, meaning he must take the stairs. The next day, he's found dead of an apparent heart attack.

A while later, the hostess herself is found dead.

It's apparent to Miss Marple that Freddie's announcement set the wheels in motion for his own murder, but who killed Lady Tressilian, and are the murders connected? The police have their murderer, they think, but Marple has doubts.

This is a very good movie, with Marple replacing another recurring character in some Christie books, Superintendent Battle. The story is all the more interesting because several people in the group have minor physical deformities.

My only complaint is that Greg Wise, who plays the tennis star who just lost at Wimbledon, was 41 at the time of the filming -- a little old to still be playing championship tennis, if one remembers the fuss made over Jimmy Connors playing the U.S. Open at 39.

Miss Marple is visiting her old friend Lady Tressilian and, while she knows Camilla is a strange old bird, the other house guests are just as odd a bunch. There is tennis player Nevile Strange with his new wife Kay, Nevile's former wife Audrey, her childhood friend and cousin, a younger man attracted to Kay and a retired solicitor, Mr Treves. Even without a crime, Miss Marple cannot help be transfixed by the relationship dynamics within this group. However when Mr Treves is found dead, seemingly from an heart attack and Lady Tressilian herself is bludgeoned to death things get interesting very quickly. All clues point to Nevile Strange and the police feel they have their man – but Miss Marple, in her usual discrete way, has other suspicions.

I have not always been a massive fan of the Marple films and indeed I have been quite harsh about some of them. It is not that I am particularly in love with the older BBC version either, just that some of the ITV ones are awful with terrible hammy acting trying to cover up the lack of substance and interest in the actual plot. I'm not that fussed if they play with the source material either – only that it works (which it normally doesn't) and really all I'm looking for is something that works and entertains me. In this case, I was encouraged by some positive reviews for this in the various weekend papers and decided to give it another shot and I'm glad I did because it is one of the better examples of the ITV series. The plot is as usual a b*stardised version of a Christie novel (in this case not a Miss Marple one) but, of more importance to me, it works well as a mystery with a nice gradual pace and plenty to think about that is of relevance. Previous films have felt fleshed out with pointless characters and touches but, while not the tightest film you'll ever see, does pretty much keep its eye on the prize and delivers a solid story where I was kept interested in the characters via what was happening.

The tone is still quite "light-entertainment" and "fun" but again I have no issue with this at all since ultimately it is about my entertainment and not something that needs a lot of reverence necessarily. On this occasion it works though because it does not dominate the piece – an aspect of this production that can be seen in the cast. While they are all lively and light, nobody really hams it up and they manage to maintain a certain amount of seriousness without it becoming dry and heavy. Although her character is not officially part of the story, McEwan works quite well here – not being too annoying nor too light-hearted. The support cast features the usual so-so faces but mostly they work – even the dread Julian Sands. Burrows is good in her way – not as cold as she can be but still not free and easy. Conversely Tapper has an easier role but plays it well and with colour. Wise is engaging, Atkins is a grumpy delight and Baker is a strange but simple find. Alan Davies is also a good bit of casting and seems to understand how his character should work within a Marple film. Nicholls and Sands are not great but they are prevented from playing up too much or making their presence a negative instead of the neutral that it is.

Towards Zero will not win over those that are appalled by any change to the source material, nor is it a brilliant film but it does work for what it is – light entertainment. The solid plot engages and it doesn't feel like it is padded or hammy even though it is quite light and undemanding and the cast manage to play it mostly right. One of the more easily enjoyable of the ITV Marple films.

As usual, the story of Towards Zero was immaculate but this particular Marple story was especially nostalgic for me because, after just a few minutes, I recognised South Sands near Salcombe in South Devonshire where I lived during my teenage years in the mid 1950s. As a youngster, I worked at the Tides Reach Hotel (which looked quite unchanged) helping with the rental of a fleet of catamaran floats to the holidaymakers on the beach. One thing that was changed in the movie was that Salcombe Estuary was referred to as a river when, in actual fact, it is a tidal estuary. Only once did I ever swim across the estuary and back whilst I lived there as it wasn't an easy swim by any stretch of the imagination. Another thing that wasn't in the movie was my little sailing boat (a Salcombe Yawl - Y24) moored in the bay of South Sands. But then the movie was set about 10 years before it was there anyway! I haven't been anywhere near there for well over 50 years!

Geraldine MacEwan shines again in this latest installment of the updated Marple series from Britain: Marple is holidaying in Devon to visit a bedridden school chum whose family is descending upon her coastal manor. Among them are a tennis star, his first wife and his second, new wife who seem to be at odds; a meek and quiet family friend; and an apparent gigolo friend of the second wife. Add into the mix Tom Baker as an aged veteran who may or may not recognize a murderer from years past and you have a classic recipe for mystery.

The locales are picturesque and the characters as eccentric and distinct as in past episodes, however something feels very dull and pedestrian about this particular Marple outing. Perhaps because there are fewer likable characters this time round or because Miss Marple seems unusually subdued this time out.

It's worth a watch but certainly not the finest in the series.