BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

maestroinferno I find it hard to believe there are so many great reviews here regarding this movie. In my opinion it is the worst of all Miss Marple movies. Although nicely photographed, the weak plot left me totally unsatisfied. Seems to me the viewer must be taken by the hand throughout the movie, learning clues step by step, until finally every detail is known and you only have to make the puzzle complete. Which is what Miss Marple is so good at. In this movie you get the same 'clues' over and over again (at a very slow pace I might add). And, in the end all is revealed by Miss Marple without hardly any explanation at all. How did she come to this conclusion? She must be psychic! After seeing the movie end, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. Never a good sign if you've watched a thriller.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU Shining Miss Marple is after the murderer or murderess of a shining young orphan who fell in love with a rakish young man, the son of a very rich man who entrusted the case with Miss Marple on his death bed, in a way. The director plays with us like a cat with his mice, showing unexplained people, characters and actions to mislead us into believing all kinds of plots were being carried out around that poor innocent old lady that never lets anything go. She is helped by her unhappy nephew who was locked out of his family home by his own wife. Once again we have the relation between a daughter and her foster parents, three sisters, who saw her beauty, her shine and also her escaping into real life with both love and apprehension. The decor of the investigation is marvelous: a tour to homes and gardens in England and it starts beautifully with Blenheim Palace and ends around Abbey Ducis where the whole business started. She sure is both under narrow surveillance from the Home Office and well protected by several guardian angels even if seriously in danger from the real criminal. But it will take her some real stamina to face the situation and confound the culprit with the crime, while her nephew will be running after the son of that millionaire practicing his repentance with London's homeless people. That too is marvelously done: showing what England was in the mid-1950s. Quite an interesting adaptation with such a nice actress knitting in the corner of the drawing room of some hotel.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

tedg This was one of Christie's later stories. Throughout her long career, she was interested in the shifting narrative and the notion of conflicting agents. Both are essentially the same thing and boil down to questions of who it is that controls or creates the situation.In detective fiction, the game is a matter of conflicting realities. The murderer intends to change reality to fool the detective, the writer intends to do the same to the reader. Both the reader and the detective are in similar battles to create what they see. That's why her stories often include a writer.In her works, she explores every combination of tricks she can think of that deal with this. Along the way, we often have bodies that are not who they seem, and times, and intended victims and such. But the real magic of the books is this notion of control. In 'Bertram's' it was literally a building.Here, it is a dead man. Well, sometimes that happens, but not like this. It is as if the writer were the famous Mr. Rafiel. This is particularly sweet to Marple readers who remember this same character from the 'Carribean Mystery,' which in a way was also framed by her nephew. In that story, Rafiel was the conveyor of the story to the authorities.The producers of this series have an almost wacky commitment to using a different creative team on each one. Sometimes it produces bland work. The 'Bertram's' episode was rather brilliantly staged. This one is the most lavish of the lot, and has an active camera. But unlike the 'Bertram's' work, it has nothing to do with the story.The camera moves and captures merely because it can. The 'Citizen Kane' quote at the beginning was a little too literal and blunt. This story is good, but the adapter took out some pretty critical stuff, and that irrelevant camera annoys.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

jaybabb Herein is the situation: Jason Rafiel-an old man in a wheel chair is perhaps near death-makes some arrangements for a number of people in his will and they will get a financial award if they carry out his wishes. Objective? To achieve justice in a murder case that has since gone cold. A young girl was murdered 7 or 8 years ago and Rafiel wants justice. Lets meet some of these people now:All of these people, (well almost all) go on a houses and garden tour-they do have something to do with each other, though they don't know it.**Miss Marple-elderly spinster from St. Mary Mead-is called to solve a crime-what crime? She gets a letter from Rafiel lawyers asking her to see them. She eventually figures out what crime she is to investigate.**Norma Brent & Verity Hunt-disappear at the same time. Verity was found in a ditch 6 months later-as for Norma Brent-she was never found-or is she?**Miss Temple-school teacher. One of her pupils was Verity. Her death was painful to her. She tells miss Marple that she died because she was loved. She also says that Verity was engaged to Rafiel's son, Michael. She knows something, and she becomes a victim of murder. On her death bead-she tells her to ask them about Verity because "The truth was buried with her."**Michael Rafiel-Mr. Rafiel's son. Was arrested and questioned about the death of Verity-was prime suspect in the murder, but was never brought to trial. He was engaged to Verity. He is also the Sole Heir to his father's fortune-but is required to live in "Rafiel House" to get it. My advice: Don't depend on appearances when it comes to Michael.**Professor Wanstead-is with the home office-specializing in criminal psychology. He is to stay in the shadows and observe what is happening.**Miss Cooke & Miss Barrow are miss Marple's body guards. Rafiel knew that he was putting her in danger. Their job is complicated when she agrees to stay with "The Three sisters" At the Manor house-where Verity lived and the Bradfurd Scotts where her guardians.**Finally we have Archdeacon Brabazon-minister who once Advised Michael and Verity on getting married-plans are canceled by murder. His role is even more clear in the book. He knows something about Michael.This is by far the best of the Miss Marple TV Productions. Enjoy!