Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

GazerRise Fantastic!

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

whitesheik One word sums it up - terrible. I don't know what's more shocking - the silly "reviewers" here who have never seen or read any iteration of Witness for the Prosecution, i.e. the people who like this monstrosity because they have no history and don't even know what the story, play, or subsequent film versions were about, or the fact that legitimate British reviewers heaped praise on this thing.So, let's just start at the beginning. You want to have the chutzpah to call something Agatha Christie's The Witness for the Prosecution, then don't make up the majority of the movie so that it has nothing to do with Agatha Christie. Sarah Phelps, shame on you - Ms. Christie doesn't need your dreary help and you can't even walk in her footsteps let alone her shoes. The teleplay is dreadful - all the additions are moronic. You know, I have no problem with this soap opera story but don't call it Agatha Christie or The Witness for the Prosecution just because you keep Ms. Christie's central plot element. This isn't going back to the short story, this is a whole NEW story and it's not a good story at that. The only thing that works is the twenty minutes or so of the trial. It just goes on and on, one dreadfully dull scene after another, filled with whispery acting and the awful coughing of Toby Jones (bronchitis we finally learn) - I don't blame him for coughing, mind you, given the amount of smoke they're pumping into every single shot and scene. It's not the 90s anymore, kids. And yes, the green - it's like watching Saw or something. Agatha Christie didn't write horror stories, you know. It's so dark and ugly and ineptly directed. Kim Cattrall is embarrassing in this as is her character, which has little to do with Ms. Christie's Emily French. The big finish doesn't happen where it should, the courtroom, because once the verdict happens the film goes on and on for yet another thirty minutes. The big finish occurs in France and then after that the film goes on and on for another fifteen minutes because this movie isn't about Leonard Vole or Emily French or Romaine Vole, it's about John Mayhew - sorry, does not compute, I don't care about the character and all his and his wife's angst - this is not Agatha Christie, this is Days of our Lives. I got the Blu-ray of this because of the reviews - fool me once, but never again.

s_imdb-623 In many parts it is 9/10, but in others 2/10.I haven't read the book and, though I'm sure I have, I don't remember seeing other versions. Firstly and primarily this very very slow and plodding. The story is there, watchable and interesting but the scenes are so overly stretched out that they've gone beyond art and into boredom. So, if you like slow moving stories steeped with brilliantly astute and deep vignettes on life, garnished with an excellent but dark period drama, you will love this.The acting is generally very good as is the period feel. The cold reality of life, especially due to the war, imparts the darkness. The twists and turns of the plot are very good, except the final twist of the crime story, which leaves you feeling the whole rest of the story was just 'camera tricks' (as in magic shows) to mislead us. It felt like a big con. The whodunnit part is maintained well throughout.The poignant imprints of war on life are genius, especially the generational statement at the end, but the time spent on them turns parts of this more into an Alan Bennett play than a crime thriller.

bob the moo Although difficult, I approached this BBC version of the story by trying to put the Billy Wilder one as far from my mind as possible. Of course that is not easy, and it is obvious from the get-go that this version is much different from the 1950's film of the same name. The way it comes through is very much in the grittiness and darkness of this version; there is no comedy lawyer, no light tone to draw you in – from the start it is a sordid relationship, a dirty piece of rough, stinking jail cells, and a lawyer servicing deadbeats for minimum wage. To be fair, maybe this is what it took to shake off the Wilder memory, because it is very dark throughout.In some ways this is a bad thing, but not many. The strength of this approach becomes clearer as the second part plays out (and this does play better with them back-to-back). The dark tone of everything is paid off with a tremendously impacting ending which not only hits the main mystery, but gives revelation and resolution to the main character too (okay based on an absurd coincidence, but I forgave it that). This had the added advantage of giving something for the viewer who already thought they knew it all, as well as justifying how dark everything had been up until that point. And it had been dark. Indeed, the first episode was almost tiresomely so – I found it to be a real drag as everything seemed aimed at showing how awful everything was. Like I said, this is justified in the end, but I still think it was laid on a bit heavy.In all areas this is the case, but the cinematography is the main one; it looks so murky to the point where it feels like the DOP slapped on an Instagram filter. It felt so heavy handed in this way that it did turn me off a little – and it seemed to highlight how hard everything else was trying to be down and dirty too. Jones' performance is the same in some ways; it works in the entirety, but for a while he feels like he is just playing to the lowest point in a deliberate way. He is still very good though, and the rest of the cast match him, with good turns from Riseborough, Howle, Cattrall, and Dolan (who has the darkest moments with her "not today thank you" denials). As a fan of Utopia, Ready was a surprise find in a small role.Overall this version initially seems to be overcompensating with its darkness at first, but in the end it is more than justified and works really well, even if it makes that first hour a bit harder to get through than it needed to be.

carollaw51-41-56256 I found this version rather gloomy and a bit depressing to say the least.Agatha Christie adaptions are usually quaint ,classy and clever this lacked any of that.And i couldn't see the point in adding unnecessary sex scenes,swear words and hints of lesbianism to do with the maid,what was the point of that other than to try and appeal to a modern audience in which case it fails,as we all prefer Christies original style of writing. Other than that i found the acting very good especially from Toby Jones who like the maid deserved a better ending like in the original 1950s and 1980s versions.These earlier versions were more true to Christies style. After watching this two part series i came away thinking that this has to be an anti-capital punishment version where miscarriages of justice could so easily have been prevented in the past if courts hadnt just relied on circumstantial evidence If this is the point the director was aiming at then it works,other than that i didn't find it comfortable viewing