Storyline
A lavish train ride unfolds into a stylish & suspenseful mystery. From the novel by Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express tells of thirteen stranded strangers & one man's race to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again.
Cast: Paapa Essiedu -
Young Policeman
Yassine Zeroual -
Young Boy
Asan N'Jie -
Hotel Waiter
Michael Rouse -
British Police Chief Inspector
Kenneth Branagh -
Hercule Poirot
Elliot Levey -
Rabbi
David Annen -
Priest
Joseph Long -
Imam
Andy Apollo -
Armed Policeman
Hadley Fraser -
British Military Escort
Daisy Ridley -
Miss Mary Debenham
Leslie Odom Jr. -
Dr. Arbuthnot
Ziad Abaza -
Arab Shipmate
Nari Blair-Mangat -
Waiter
Luke Brady -
Waiter
Trivia:
The very first publication of the story was in a six-installment serialisation in the Saturday Evening Post in 1933 in the US, under the title, Murder on the Calais Coach. See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 2/10
I am loathe to put the boot in to any film but the barrage of publicity
for this, plastered all over the BBC news and chat shows - Graham
Norton and Andrew Marr interviewing the phalanx of "stars" in a
suitable subservient way - has pushed this reviewer over the edge. It
is a film that didn't need a remake since the original was perfectly
acted and nuanced. Perhaps that is half the problem - I know the
"solution" and therefore the denouement is no surprise- but there is
something more deeply flawed with this movie. Firstly - that moustache.
Ridiculous and in the end it becomes something that you stare at and
wonder just why something so outrageously stupid would NOT get in the
way of what words the actor is actually saying. You stop listening and
just try and see where it is stuck on. Branagh stomps around the
various scenes like Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (even down to
walking along the top of the snow-covered carriage as if he was king of
the castle) and then addresses the suspects in a scene that is
reminiscent of The Last Supper painting. Everywhere he goes everyone
knows him. Absolutely everyone. The opening scenes in Jerusalem are
unnecessary and only serve to raise Branagh/Poirot into God like status
where the population of the city are happy to take his word and trample
a suspect policeman to death. No jury, no trial, lynch mob rules. All
of which seems to bother the guardian of justice not one jot.
Cut to the train - at last. We hear that the train is full and that
Poirot will have to share a cabin for at least one night. As we
discover that there are just 12 passengers on the whole train I
wondered what happened to all the other empty berths on the other
carriages. Let's just pass over that one. We are now introduced to the
various characters. I don't know how much these stars got paid for this
movie but boy, apart from Michelle Pfeiffer, they don't have too many
words to say. The main action is sitting around looking suspiciously at
each other. Depp is mostly unintelligible evidenced by his recent
performance on the Graham Norton show where he found it difficult to
string two words together. It is only Branagh who has the dialogue -
and he works it as hard as he can into some kind of Shakespearean
dialogue. Judi Dench plays the part Wendy Hiller took in the 1974 film.
I know Dench is supposed to be the public's "favourite" but Hiller's
sneering haughtiness will remain one of the highlights of the earlier
film long after this one is forgotten.
In the novel and the 1974 film the train gets stuck in a drift. Here it
is struck by an avalanche and teeters on a wooden viaduct. Ain't CGI
wonderful? The engine is derailed but never fear he comes a gang of ten
workers who will dig away the snow and pull a 100 ton engine back on to
the tracks - with their bare hands. Marvellous.
And the music score? Possibly the most disappointing part of the whole
film when one considers the classic Richard Rodney Bennett score for
the 1974 film. Patrick Doyle's offering is just insipid and uninspired.
The closing credits roll with some vapid pop song burbling away in the
background.
Well, if you've never seen the 1974 film and you don't know the ending
you may enjoy this but perhaps you should locate that earlier film and
wait for this to end up on the £3 shelf at Tesco. It would appear, to
judge by the final quip by Poirot in the film that Branagh is planning
to redo Death on the Nile. God help us.
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