THREE AND 1/2 STARS
If we tell them that It is a suspense where there is a crime and Detective Poirot (that creation of Christie Agatha) has to solve it, it could be contradictory to tell them, at the same time, that it is a very strange movie. Because nothing is warmer and safer than a classic “who did it” and following all the rules. But it is rare.
On the one hand, it is not exactly a Christie story but an adaptation of something little known. Secondly, because Brannagh uses grand guiñolesque elements of horror cinema to generate scares, but he does it lightly, as if he were telling us “look, I laugh at the scares.” Thirdly, because at times it plays with the supernatural, but we always know that this is not the case. And fourth, because the mystery is very uncomplicated.
And yet, what works in its favor is the atmosphere, a certain experimental dimension in reproducing the obviously false texture of the theatrical in a traditional film. That’s what makes it “strange”: it seems like an exercise in style closer to comedy than to a true mystery film. And even his actors (himself as an actor) take everything with a certain parodic eagerness, except – rarity and exception of exceptions – the brilliant Tina Fey. Ok, you want to know if it shows itself. Yes, it is allowed, it is even pleasant. But it leaves the feeling that it is a very strange film.
