Hercule Poirot’s Back in Spookily Fun Whodunit ‘A Haunting in Venice’

Hercule Poirot’s Back in Spookily Fun Whodunit ‘A Haunting in Venice’

By Alex McPherson

Featuring skillfully disorienting filmmaking, excellent performances, and wry charm, director Kenneth Branagh’s third Hercule Poirot outing, “A Haunting in Venice,” is reliably enjoyable, if undercutting its emotional beats through rushed pacing.

Based on Agatha Christie’s 1969 novel “Hallowe’en Party,” Branagh’s film moves the action from 1960s England to 1947 Venice, with the trauma of World War II still lingering fresh. The strikingly mustached, thick-accented Poirot (Branagh) is now retired, attempting to live an isolated life distanced from prospective clients. His Italian bodyguard, Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio), is ferocious in warding off any sap who tries to get Poirot’s attention, knocking them into Venetian canals if need be.

Poirot is clearly worn down from his years of sleuthing, and the personal costs his work has rendered on his well-being are on full display. The detective is content to live out his remaining days in peace, until his old friend, the quick-witted, fast-talking author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) shows up and invites him to a séance with the goal of having Poirot deduce if the “medium,” a world-famous weirdo named Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), is a fraud.

The site is a labyrinthine palazzo that’s the rumored subject of a curse (and a playplace for children’s Halloween festivities with an accompanying puppet show). The séance is for a young girl, Alicia Drake, who fell off a balcony there and drowned a year earlier, either from suicide or murder.

The attendees include Alicia’s despondent mother, a former opera singer named Rowena (Kelly Reilly), the caring and religious housekeeper Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), Mrs. Reynold’s immigrant helper Desdemona (Emma Laird), Alicia’s PTSD-stricken doctor Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan), Leslie’s creepily observant son Leopold (Jude Hill of “Belfast” fame), and Alicia’s easily angered ex-fiancé Maxime (Kyle Allen).

Despite some aggressively irritating clangs and bangs — the jumpy sound design in “A Haunting in Venice” irritates as much as it immerses — things seem to be going pretty well on Poirot’s end, until, well, there’s another death on the premises.

Kelly Reilly

Potentially supernatural happenings are afoot — something that Poirot might not be able to reason his way out of before the dark and stormy night runs its course — as everyone reckons with ghosts and past decisions that haunt their psyches — just not to the level of, for example, “Talk to Me,” which released earlier this year. Branagh’s film is never exactly scary, but there’s much to appreciate about “A Haunting in Venice,” particularly regarding Branagh’s skills as a director.

The post-war time period is vividly realized with striking colors and production design;  the warmth of daylight flows into a stormy night with Haris Zambarloukos’ crisp cinematography and Lucy Donaldson’s snappy editing, wind buffeting aged windows and flashes of lightning illuminating danger, real or not. Branagh has fun deploying visual tricks to catch viewers off guard throughout, including ominous shapes/figures lurking in the background, as visual red herrings. Hildur Guðnadóttir’s string-filled score adds an extra layer of foreboding. 

Branagh and Zambarloukos frame the action in wide-shots and canted angles, playing around with camera techniques and points-of-view to reflect Poirot’s increasing discombobulation. Despite all this, Branagh reverts to surface-level shocks — plates shattering, doors blowing open, light bulbs exploding, etc. — that don’t fully capitalize on the setting, even though the actors were allegedly unprepared for some surprises on-set.  

Indeed, “A Haunting in Venice” is content to startle, rather than disturb, held back from showing anything truly shocking through the PG-13 rating and refusing to deviate all that much from Poirot’s detective story roots. This renders the film’s horror-inflected touches somewhat muted on a visceral level, if harmlessly entertaining. More notably, the approach plays into Branagh’s exploration of Poirot as a character and his place in the world.

Poirot, jaded in his profession and gradually losing faith in his own ability for rational explanation of what’s happening, is as off-kilter as the camerawork — unsteady and struggling for balance. But he never gives up, fighting for reason over superstition, and familiarity over the unfamiliar, not unlike the film’s comforting return to formula in its second half.

Michelle Yeoh as medium Mrs Reynolds

As a result, Branagh’s straddling of different genres reflects Poirot’s internal struggle. The palazzo’s creaks, groans, and apparitions dare our lovable detective to surrender to the madness, but he refuses to, ultimately discovering his reason for being on the other side of it all.

Branagh’s performance, as Poirot, remains thoroughly engaging, maintaining a self-awareness that strikes a fine balance between cartoonishness and seriousness. It’s an excellent turn, barring some muffled dialogue: a larger-than-life character in a larger-than-life situation. 

The remaining ensemble shines along to varying degrees — Fey, Yeoh, and Hill make strong impressions, with Hill perfectly embodying the creepy and erudite Leopold — each character reckoning with regret, trauma, and confronting their pasts to find new paths forward, morally corrupt though they might be. 

The mystery itself is compelling, albeit rather simplistic. Observant viewers will be rewarded, but Branagh aims for accessibility over nuance. Additionally, Michael Green’s screenplay lacks subtlety in revealing character motives and larger themes, streamlining the mystery so that threads don’t become overwhelming. What’s sacrificed is time spent developing any individual character, Poirot among them, on a more poignant level. At least there’s a shout-out to St. Louis!

“A Haunting in Venice” is more about the journey than the destination, with Branagh’s directing and haunted-house mood-setting taking center stage, but there’s little denying the pure entertainment value of Poirot’s latest case. It doesn’t take much thinking to deduce that “A Haunting in Venice” is worth watching on the big screen in a packed theater, everyone squirming during jump scares and embarking on a good old fashioned whodunit with a director and cast rising to the challenge.

“A Haunting in Venice” is a 2023 mystery-thriller directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Branagh, Tina Fey, Keilly Reilly, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Michelle Yeoh, Camille Cottin and Kyle Allen. It is rated PG-13 for some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements, and the run time is 1 hour, 43 minutes. It opens in theatres Sept. 15. Alex’s Grade: B+.

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot

‘Oppenheimer’ Is An Ambitious But Emotionally Distant Spectacle

‘Oppenheimer’ Is An Ambitious But Emotionally Distant Spectacle

By Alex McPherson

An immersive cinematic experience that isn’t quite as profound as it thinks it is, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is thrilling and overwhelming.

The film, based on the biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, centers around the titular Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the infamous, enigmatic, and enterprising physicist who led the secret weapons laboratory of the Manhattan Project in the creation of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The bombs were believed to have ended World War II, but left unimaginable devastation in their wake: they released a monster that threatens to destroy humanity to this day. In typical Nolan fashion, “Oppenheimer” unfolds non-chronologically in dual timelines, spliced together non-sequentially, each playing with color schemes, aspect ratios, and perspectives. 

One, presented in color and labeled “fission,” takes place from Oppenheimer’s perspective and follows a 1954 security hearing in which Oppenheimer’s clearance is being questioned by a kangaroo court of politicians wanting to strip him of power due to his opposition to the H-Bomb program and his past leftist associations.

Flashbacks chart Oppenheimer’s career from an unruly yet “brilliant” student at Cambridge who has fiery, apocalyptic visions to his tenure as a popular professor at Berkeley; his tumultuous romantic life; his eventual recruitment as head of the weapons laboratory of the Manhattan Project, and the Trinity bomb test; and the grim aftermath of the bombs being dropped in Japan.

The other framing device, labeled “fusion,” is presented in black-and-white and focuses on the 1958 confirmation hearings for Commerce Secretary Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), former head of the Atomic Energy Commission and admirer-turned-bitter rival of Oppenheimer. Strauss’s past associations with Oppenheimer are questioned, and viewers observe the systemic and personal motivations that turned Oppenheimer’s country against him.

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer

Nolan’s weaving together of time periods emphasizes a cyclical, pessimistic view of humankind and covers as much thematic ground as possible — far more (for better or worse) than a traditional biopic. In its fatalistic structure forever linking cause and effect, thought and execution, ego and ruin, “Oppenheimer” is ultimately a cautionary tale about invention and heroism, the perilous nature of advancement in pursuit of exceptionalism, the sacrifice of morality for power, and the perilous nature of science (and the public’s reaction to science) when it serves or doesn’t serve them.

Meaningful themes, for sure, but ones most of us have seen played out time and time again in media and our current political hellscape.

Anchored by excellent performances and Nolan’s bombastic, unrelenting direction, “Oppenheimer” is always engaging to watch on a purely technical and sensory level, if lacking the soul that creates a lasting impression. Indeed, the film’s three-hour barrage of information, characters, and stylistic showmanship lessens its intimacy. Nolan’s storytelling is too focused on being ambitious rather than letting us sit and reflect, disappointingly distant when it should be enveloping, rendering “Oppenheimer” more satisfying on an intellectual than emotional level.

Murphy, in his first time headlining a Nolan production, is captivating and mysterious. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema’s camera — capturing the halls of academia, sun-swept Los Alamos, and claustrophobic bureaucratic corridors in crisp detail, involving cinema’s first use of IMAX black-and-white analogue photography, enhanced by sterling production design and costuming — absolutely adores his peculiar facial structure, letting us observe this charismatic, arrogant, naive man become hollowed out by his own brilliance. Murphy is expressive yet measured, reflecting Oppenheimer’s contradictions.

Oppenheimer frequently seems pulled between various extremes, rarely committing himself to one point of view. He’s interested in leftist philosophies without ever fully aligning himself with them, he has difficulty navigating a turbulent love life with his alcoholic wife, Kitty (Emily Blunt, underused yet getting one crowd-pleasing moment near the end), and his troubled mistress, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh, also underused), while being simultaneously drawn towards and petrified by his own genius. Nolan depicts him as neither hero nor villain, but something in between, with Murphy commanding the screen with empathetic, tortured unknowability.

Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss

Downey Jr., able to stretch his actorly wings in a role separated from his usual Tony Stark persona, also excels portraying Strauss, a power-hungry politician willing to throw his peers under the bus to come out on top. While Nolan’s zinger-heavy screenplay paints Strauss rather simplistically compared to Oppenheimer — there isn’t much ambiguity left regarding Strauss’s arc by the end, it’s a persona that, though based in truth, we’ve seen before — Downey Jr. lends power and malevolent dignity nevertheless.

Matt Damon, as Leslie Groves, the Army officer who recruits Oppenheimer to lead the Los Alamos laboratory, provides most of the film’s comedic relief in his plain-spoken, nationalistic differences with Oppenheimer, and the rest of the stacked ensemble — featuring such (perhaps overly) recognizable faces as Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Alden Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke, Casey Affleck, Kenneth Branagh, and Gary Oldman, among dozens of others, including Tom Conti as Albert Einstein — delivers the goods, some only with one or two scenes.

Nolan’s directing is typically strong, of course, with a booming score by Ludwig Göransson that keeps tension taut throughout, and bone-rattling sound design that effectively puts us in Oppenheimer’s fractured headspace. The Trinity bomb-test sequence, as previously mentioned, is almost unbearably suspenseful — the hellish plume of fire folding around itself in silence before surging with ear-shattering noise (thank god for earplugs), while Oppenheimer utters “Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.”

Some expressionistic touches (like Oppenheimer being stripped naked as his interrogators discuss his romantic past) are difficult to take seriously, and dialogue veers heavily between overly expository and Aaron-Sorkin-lite, but “Oppenheimer” still bears the mark of one of cinema’s greatest directors.

It’s unfortunate that Nolan isn’t able to merge these various elements into a truly impactful whole. With so much ground to cover, the film only sometimes pauses to let us sit and reflect with the characters. Jennifer Lame’s precisely propulsive editing zips us along like we’re watching a montage. I can’t help but feel that a more traditional telling of Oppenheimer’s story, taking place entirely from his perspective without jumping timelines and points-of-view, would have a more organic evolution of his dreams and struggles.

As it stands, there’s much to think about, but little that tugs at the heart save for a few brilliantly directed sequences of Oppenheimer’s guilt visualized, the aforementioned bomb-test, and a sobering gut-punch of an ending. Perhaps a rewatch will prove otherwise, but qualms aside, “Oppenheimer” is quite a beast of a film, if one that’s not as effective or groundbreaking as it’s being heralded to be.

Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy

“Oppenheimer” is a 2023 drama-thriller-biography written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. It is Rated R for some nudity, sexuality and language and runs 3 hours. It opens in theaters on July 21. Alex’s Grade: B+

Note: this review was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Matt Damon is Leslie Groves in OPPENHEIMER, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Nolan’s Magnum Opus ‘Oppenheimer’ is Big, Bold And Brilliant

Nolan’s Magnum Opus ‘Oppenheimer’ is Big, Bold And Brilliant

By Lynn Venhaus
One of the best films of the year, “Oppenheimer” is a stunning achievement in sight, sound, story, and scope.

Brilliantly directed and written by Christopher Nolan, his first biopic about the “Father of the Atomic Bomb” is his magnum opus. He not only delivers a fascinating historical drama on the genius theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s research and development, but he has crafted it like a big-stakes psychological thriller with many pieces of a puzzle becoming clear over its three-hour runtime.

It was exhilarating to see something this intelligent, lucid, and well-constructed.

Based on the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, Nolan’s adaptation focuses primarily on the scientist’s rise in the hallowed halls of revered institutions, the U.S. government’s interest in his quantum mechanics work, directing the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II, his role in organizing the Manhattan Project, and the aftermath of building a nuclear weapon.

This erudite character study explains much in its sharp dialogue that didn’t feel heavy or highbrow, and thanks to the actors’ snappy delivery, naturalistic.  Nolan’s verbal dexterity is crucial to this becoming edge-of-your-seat good instead of an academic exercise, and through meticulous detail, infuses a compelling biography with big-picture questions.

Nolan has created some of the best films of the 21st century since “Memento” in 2000, and is known for his cerebral storytelling, nonlinear style, and visual mastery.

Oscar-nominated five times for picture and director for “Dunkirk,” picture and screenplay for “Inception” and screenplay for “Memento,” his films have won mostly technical awards. He has thrilled with his Batman trilogy, impressed with “The Prestige,” and confounded with “Tenet” and “Interstellar,” gaining a fervent fan base.

Even those not as enamored will begrudgingly admit to admiring his commitment to big, bold cinematic grandeur, rarely relying on digital effects. (For instance, no computer-generated graphics in “The Dark Knight.”)

While weaving a grand-scale intricate narrative that flashes back and forward across decades, Nolan creates tension that leads to the “Trinity” code-name bomb-testing that’s one of the most astonishing sequences ever captured on film as he manipulates sight and sound for the Big Bang.

After the bomb is used and the government takes it over from there, the film raises issues about actions causing reactions, scientific advancement, and government responsibility as Oppenheimer is swept into the maelstrom of moral, ethical, and political debates unleashed after the bomb’s use to end World War II.

The story is framed with an unsettling hearing in 1954, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, which stripped Oppenheimer of his security clearance, a kangaroo court depicting the post-war Red Scare paranoia. With his leftist leanings, connections to people that were avowed (past) Communists, and fretting over nuclear proliferation, he was accused of being a Soviet spy and became an unfortunate scapegoat.

Nolan uses this backroom thrashing as a look back, intertwining science with politics by effectively alternating color and black-and-white film. It’s a master storyteller at the peak of his craft.

A key element is a mega-cast that features everyone giving their all, creating authentic portraits of people that played a part in history, from Alden Ehrenreich depicting a Senate aide to British actor Tom Conti unrecognizable as Albert Einstein and Gary Oldman’s sly work as President Harry S Truman in one scene.

A longtime fan of Cillian Murphy, I’m happy to see the Irish actor finally taking center stage in a part that seems tailor-made for him, and he’s on screen nearly the entire time. It’s such a virtuoso lived-in portrait, his career best, and he superbly unfolds multiple layers – showing many facets of Oppenheimer’s personality.

Murphy’s most well-known work is as crime boss Tommy Shelby in the Netflix series “Peaky Blinders” (2013-2022), which is about a gangster family in 1900s England. In 2002, he broke through in the Danny Boyle sci-fi masterpiece “28 Days Later,” and has been featured in six Nolan films, starting with “Batman Begins” in 2005 as DC Comics’ villain Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow.

As the two complicated women in his life, Emily Blunt is bulldog-like in her support, portraying his alcoholic biologist wife Kitty, unapologetic as a stressed-out mom, and Florence Pugh is troubled longtime girlfriend, psychiatrist Jean Tatlock.

Robert Downey Jr. stands out in a shrewd performance as Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and ambitious political climber, and Matt Damon is strong as General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project.

Josh Hartnett, who fell off mainstream movie radar, roars back as pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence, who worked with Oppenheimer at University of California-Berkeley, and Benny Safdie is once again surprising as theoretical physicist Edward Teller, who disagreed with Oppie on the hydrogen bomb.

A litany of recognizable actors portraying either scientists, military brass or support staff includes Casey Affleck, Kenneth Branagh, Jason Clarke, Dane DeHaan, Tony Goldwyn, David Krumholtz, Rami Malek, Matthew Modine, and Alex Wolff.

You might also be familiar with Dylan Arnold, who plays Robert’s brother Frank Oppenheimer, Michael Angarano as good friend-physicist Robert Serber, David Dastmalchian as William Borden, who filed a complaint with the FBI, Gregory Jbara as Senate Chairman Magnuson, and Macon Blair as Oppenheimer’s defense attorney Lloyd Garrison.

This film leaps to being either a frontrunner or contender in many awards categories, figuring into the year-end conversations. It will be in mine – considerations for film, director, adapted screenplay, lead actor, supporting actor (Downey), supporting actress (Blunt), cinematography, editing, music score, visual effects, production design, costumes, hair and makeup, and sound nominations.

Nolan’s go-to cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oscar nominee for “Dunkirk” and showing his keen eye in “Nope,” reaches new heights here, groundbreaking actually. He shot the film partially in black-and-white, and in doing so, made history. In a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film photography it includes, for the first time ever, sections in IMAX black and white analogue photography.

L to R: Matt Damon is Leslie Groves and Cillian Murphy is J. Robert Oppenheimer in OPPENHEIMER, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

So that the sections of the movie could be shot in the same quality as the rest of the film, Kodak developed the first ever black and white film stock for IMAX.

Composer Ludwig Goransson, who won an Oscar for his “Black Panther” score, distinctively guides the tone and the tempo with savvy music choices.

The artisan work is exceptional – especially Jennifer Lame’s decisive editing, and the sound editing and mixing technicians’ advanced capabilities (Richard King, Michael W. Mitchell, Kevin O’Connell, Gary A. Rizzo leading the way.)

Luisa Abel’s expert makeup and prosthetic department’s aging visages appear realistic, and costume designer Ellen Mirojnick’s looks for tweedy academia, active soldiers, swanky party guests and ‘40s housewives are spot-on, factoring in desert, Northern California, and New England climates.

Ruth De Jong’s production design spans decades and locations with accurate retro recreations, as Nolan moves from ‘20s grad school in Germany to ‘30s UC-Berkeley classrooms, to ‘40s Princeton, deserts and mountains, wartime New Mexico and McCarthy-era Washington D.C.

“Oppenheimer” harkens back to those mammoth blockbusters of old, those sweeping epics filmed by David Lean that captured our fancy. It is rare to see a movie of this magnitude be this satisfying, but it is nuanced filmmaking at its finest. Go see this big-brained movie on the biggest screen possible.

“Oppenheimer” is a 2023 drama-thriller-biography written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. It is Rated R for some nudity, sexuality and language and runs 3 hours. It opens in theaters on July 21. Lynn’s Grade: A.

Note: this review was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Free ‘Belfast’ Screening March 16 at The Hi-Pointe Theatre in St. Louis

Free ‘Belfast’ Screening March 16 at The Hi-Pointe Theatre in St. Louis

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Focus Features and Cinema St. Louis are presenting an encore screening of BELFAST, the St. Louis International Film Festival’s 2021 winner of the TV5MONDE Award for Best International Feature, at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 16..

The screening will kick off St. Patrick’s Day festivities at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, near Dogtown. All attendees will receive a voucher for a complimentary small soda and popcorn (no substitutions allowed). The screening will be free for Cinema St. Louis members and is also open to the general public, with complimentary passes available at the following link, while supplies last: http://focusfeaturesscreenings.com/DAjlf49051

Please note: The screening will be overbooked to ensure capacity and seating is not guaranteed.

Written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Kenneth Branagh, BELFAST is a poignant story of love, laughter, and loss in one boy’s childhood, amid the music and social tumult of the late 1960s. BELFAST is now nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture of the Year.

About Cinema St. Louis: The nonprofit Cinema St. Louis produces the St. Louis International Film Festival, one of the largest and highest-profile international film festivals in the Midwest. The fest has been lauded in USA Today’s 10Best list. CSL also produces the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, QFest St. Louis, the Classic French Film Festival, and Golden Anniversaries (a series of films celebrating their 50th anniversary).

Old-Fashioned Mystery ‘Death on the Nile’ Is Sumptuous Escapism

Old-Fashioned Mystery ‘Death on the Nile’ Is Sumptuous Escapism


By Lynn Venhaus

A luxurious old-fashioned whodunit, “Death on the Nile” blends the escapism of an exotic locale with a clever yarn about obsessive love and betrayal.

For 2 hours and 7 minutes, it’s a lovely time at the movies to forget a dreary winter or live vicariously through super-rich elitists while one of Agatha Christie’s most intricate murder mysteries unfolds in opulent surroundings.

A beautiful newlywed heiress is murdered during a wedding party cruise down the Nile, and Belgian detective Hercule Poirot attempts to solve the puzzle, meanwhile others are killed and the invited guests all become suspects.

The legendary British author was the master of constructing crimes in confined spaces, and director Kenneth Branagh effectively contrasts a jolly holiday setting with suspicions about the ambitious and greedy passengers on board the paddleboat steamer Karnak. Who could be capable of murder?

This version was easy to be swept away by, with stunning vistas of the Egyptian landscape, including the majestic pyramids at Giza and the grandeur of the pharaohs. It might be CGI, but the striking imagery evoked awe and wonder.

The atmospheric elements are first-rate. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos has worked with Branagh on multiple films and gives the panoramas a golden hue and sumptuous feel.

So has composer Patrick Doyle, who captures both the times and the looming danger in a jazzy blues-tinged score.

Editor Úna Ní Dhonghaíle, who did such excellent work on “Belfast,” is sharp doling out the clues and crime snippets.

Paco Delgado’s splendid costume design includes crisp summer whites and glamorous period evening wear, with classy dressing for dinner de rigueur in the swanky environment.

Jim Clay’s posh production design is a treasure trove of elegance, with a keen eye on the desert climate and fancy vintage interiors.

The invited guests, of course, either have secrets or motives, and screenwriter Michael Green capitalizes on the connections. He collaborated with Branagh on their first Christie foray, “Murder on the Orient Express,” in 2017, but this film is put together with more elan.

Green has cut some characters, changed professions for several, and created a few different backstories than in Christie’s original 1937 novel. Salome Otterbourne is now a sophisticated blues nightclub singer rather than a romance novelist, and instead of imitating Angela Lansbury 34 years ago, Oscar-nominee Sophie Okonedo infuses her role with sass and a world-weary attitude.

The filmmakers hint at an attraction between her and the fussbudget Poirot, and as played again by Branagh as all-business, they give him a tragic World War I romance and a mustache origin story that opens the film.

The casting choices are interesting, led by the dazzling Gal Gadot, who veered from playing a superhero to again demonstrate her formidable screen presence. She is breath-taking as the pressured heiress who marries her bestie’s fiancé in a whirlwind romance.

Emma Mackey, a regular on the Netflix series “Sex Education,” is a striking friend-turned-foe Jacqueline de Bellafort, whose bitterness and resentment dampens the festive atmosphere.

A surprising Russell Brand stays in the drama lane as Linnet’s former fiancé, a dull but accomplished doctor.

And check this out — the “Absolutely Fabulous” creators, the pair of comedians Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, play the haughty godmother and her constant companion, an outspoken communist.

Annette Bening is a cranky dowager who disapproves of her son, Bouc (Tom Bateman), and his romance with Rosalie (Letitia Wright).

Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French

Love is in the air in multiple story threads, but due to circumstances beyond their control, the main coupling is problematic.

The film was delayed several times, after originally planned for a 2019 release, but filming pushed it back to 2020, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the release date was moved several more times, with plans for a fall 2021 opening. Well, the Armie Hammer scandal broke in April, so Disney (20th Century Fox) settled on now’s the time, come what may.

The actor now turned pariah portrays the aristocratically handsome Simon Doyle in his customary plank-of-wood way (and still can’t handle a British accent after the dreadful “Rebecca” adaptation in 2020).

Accused of sexual assault and rape in allegations from last March, Hammer has been dropped from all film and stage plans, but this movie was completed before the news broke. In December, he was released from a facility where he was treated for drug, alcohol, and sexual issues.

Although they cut him almost completely from the film’s trailer, they couldn’t do that in the in the movie, as they did not reshoot the role, a la Christopher Plummer replacing Kevin Spacey in “All the Money in the World” in 2017.

But he can’t escape from viewers knowing that fall from grace here, and I felt uncomfortable every time he was in a romantic situation. It doesn’t help that he has little chemistry with the statuesque Gadot. So, is he the elephant in the room that will lead to a disastrous showing?

He’s one of many in this second adaptation of Christie’s novel, which is a superior version to the rather campy one in 1978, so we shall see. We are navigating new times.

The earlier adaptation featured a large cast, coming across like a higher-priced “Love Boat,” which fit director John Guillermin’s aesthetic – he directed “The Towering Inferno” in 1974 and “King Kong” in 1976.

But most everyone – Bette Davis included, went over-the-top in their performances and exaggerated accents. Mia Farrow, as the jilted fiancé Jacqueline, had a dreadful British accent while model-turned-actress Lois Chiles demonstrated the limits of her abilities as honeymooner Linnet Ridgeway.  

Peter Ustinov took over the Poirot role, after the success of 1974’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” for Oscar-nominee Albert Finney declined a second go-round. Oscar winner Ustinov would play the distinctive detective five more times.

Hammer aside, the film is unapologetically aimed for an older demographic, who doesn’t need flashy tech and bombast. With the critical and commercial success of 2019’s “Knives Out,” Branagh’s team hopes to repeat that magic, and at least has great source material to draw viewers into a delectable, tangled web.

And you must find out why Poirot has that bushy hair above his lip.

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot

“Death on the Nile” is a mystery suspense thriller released in 2022 and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It stars Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Letitia Wright, Rose Leslie, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Annette Bening, Ali Fazal, Russell Brand and Tom Bateman. Rated PG-13 for violence, some bloody images and sexual material, it’s run time is 2 hours, 7 minutes. In theaters Feb. 11. Lynn’s Grade: B+


‘Belfast’ Is Earnest Tribute to Home

‘Belfast’ Is Earnest Tribute to Home

By Alex McPherson

Accessible and brimming with directorial skill, Sir Kenneth Branagh’s future awards hopeful, “Belfast,” is an affecting coming-of-age story set amidst civil conflict.

Taking place during the summer of 1969 in Northern Ireland, “Belfast” functions as a cinematic memoir for Branagh — looking back at a seemingly idyllic stage in his life beset by the brutality of The Troubles between Protestants and Catholics. Buddy (a revelatory Jude Hill) is a boy nearing adolescence, possessing a wide-eyed curiosity and playfulness in his small, mostly Protestant neighborhood. He’s surrounded by his courageous mother (Catríona Balfe), his father (Jamie Dornan) who works in England, brother Will (Lewis McAskie), his rebellious older cousin Moira (Lara McDonnell), his lovably sardonic grandmother (Dame Judi Dench), and his grandfather (Ciarán Hinds), who remains Buddy’s primary confidant.. 

As destructive riots begin to take place within and around his community, Buddy (a Protestant) struggles to make sense of what’s happening, if one can even make sense of it to begin with. What matters most to him is having fun and attempting to build up the courage to talk to his school crush (a Catholic girl). The adult world creeping steadily upon his doorstep threatens to permanently influence the person he will become — forcing him to grow up as his parents debate whether or not to leave the only place they’ve called home.

“Belfast” could arguably be faulted for not painting a comprehensive picture of The Troubles, but Branagh’s film remains both uplifting and heartbreaking in equal measure. Seeing the story play out through Buddy’s eyes lends the proceedings a wistful edge, as we observe this young soul — full of life — navigate an increasingly perilous environment with loved ones by his side.

After an in-color introduction showcasing present-day Belfast, the film swiftly transitions to crisp black-and-white photography, evoking the sense of being transported back to an era both fantastical and menacing. The sequence that follows is one of 2021’s best. Buddy’s street devolves from safe and peaceful into utter chaos when a Protestant mob attempting to expunge any remaining Catholics from the neighborhood rounds the corner. The camera swirls around Buddy frozen in fear as the crowd approaches, and we’re launched into an intense situation not completely unlike a horror film. It’s reflective of Branagh’s fusion of tenderness and harsh reality that continues throughout, which makes each moment of grace between the characters all the more meaningful.

Composed largely of small conversations between Buddy and his family, “Belfast” gives the titular setting both a welcoming, lived-in feel, as well as the sense that unexpected violence could strike at any point. Indeed, thanks to the absolutely incredible cast and imaginative direction from Branagh, viewers can feel his passionate longing for those days gone by.

Even though the looming carnage casts a dark shadow over most scenes, there’s still plenty of humor to be found here, particularly in regard to Buddy’s heart-to-heart discussions with his grandma and grandpa about everything from the moon landing to how to woo girls to what to make of the outside world that’s seemingly falling apart.

Moments like these, given added texture through Hinds’ and Dench’s wise, knowing auras, pull at viewers’ heart strings and underline the fact that this resilient family can weather any obstacle if they stick together. Hill is a spectacular performer for someone 11 years old, conveying Buddy’s confusion, wonder, and eventual sadness in completely believable fashion.

The rest of the actors are just as excellent. Balfe is blindingly good as a beautiful, caring, deeply concerned parent who wants to protect her children and is strongly attached to her home base in Belfast. Dornan gives a rich performance as Buddy’s father, a man fiercely against viewing people in absolutes, who faces pressure from a radical acquaintance (Colin Morgan) to join a Protestant gang. The stressed couple fight over barely being able to pay rent and whether to move away, all while Buddy listens nearby, the sparkling glint in his eyes turning to tears.

Cinematographer Harris Zambarloukos does an admirable job depicting Buddy’s community as an interconnected unit teeming with energy where everyone knows each other, implementing tracking shots galore. Characters might be conversing quietly only to be interrupted by someone sitting in the corner of the frame, resembling a stage production. “Belfast” also reverts back to color photography when Buddy and company view a play or film together, likely emphasizing the profound impact that the arts had on Branagh as a child, but simultaneously feeling a bit on-the-nose.

With a soundtrack by Van Morrison accentuating moments of euphoria and tragedy among the characters, and a mournful, jazzy original score, “Belfast” depicts the city and Buddy’s family with a nostalgic glow tinged with sadness and regret. A few scenes feel too far separated from reality, and the film follows a relatively predictable framework, but the power of Branagh’s passion project is difficult to refute, and absolutely worth experiencing.

“Belfast” is a 2021 drama directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Jude Hill, Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Ciaran Hinds Lewis McAskie, and Colin Morgan. Rated PG-13 for some violence and strong language and runs 1 hour, 38 minutes. Alex’s Grade: A-   

‘Tenet’ Dazzles Visually But Plot Is Messy

‘Tenet’ Dazzles Visually But Plot Is Messy

By Lynn Venhaus
For all his technical brilliance, Christopher Nolan’s ambition and vision sometimes impede his screenplays from making sense. And despite its dazzling action scenes, “Tenet” can’t overcome an unwieldy time-travel plot to make us care – about the future, present or past on screen.

The dangerous time-bending mission is to prevent the start of World War III.

Basically, this jumbo-sized James Bond-type thriller, complete with fabulous gadgets and zippy globe-trotting, is complicated, trying to employ algorithms and explain inversion in its race to thwart doomsday. The layers are murky, the dialogue isn’t always convincing and the complexities lead to overthinking. By midway, it’s a lot to keep straight.

As a director, Nolan’s bombast and daring are unmatched today. And for every letdown like “Interstellar,” there is a masterpiece like “The Dark Knight.” That’s why I look forward to his films, and this one drew me into a theater for the first time since mid-March.

Its stunning set pieces – especially an airport scene and a highway car chase that features speeding cars going backwards, are quite something, and make it a blockbuster worthy of the big screen (and IMAX if you want the upgrade).

As a writer, Nolan’s obsession with puzzles, obviously one of his signatures, and his ability to frame a shot with the fanaticism of a Kubrick, is admirable, but he is often too cold and clinical. With little backstory, we aren’t sympathetic to the principal characters or drawn into their world, with the exception of Elizabeth Debicki, a strikingly beautiful and tall actress playing the Hitchcock blonde, art dealer Kat. She married a vicious oligarch and arms dealer Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh), who is keeping her estranged from her young son. And he has plutonium. And tons of money.

Branagh chews the scenery in a cartoonish role, and his thick Russian accent doesn’t help in deciphering his threats, as he attempts to be menacing with a steady monotone.

The Protagonist, John David Washington, seems miscast. As good as he was in “BlacKkKlansman,” he appears ill-at-ease here, and it’s not just in the fancy suits to convince others he has wealth. On the other hand, Robert Pattinson is fine as his handler, the mysterious Neil. We don’t know much about him by design, but he and Washington make a good pair.

Clues are dispensed in a frustrating fashion. Oh, there are many big ideas, paradoxes, secrets — and plenty of head-scratching, but by the third act, interest fades. At 150 minutes, it is not exactly taut, although the action is fluid. When military guys in shields show up in droves, and the visors make them unrecognizable, that is a problem.

Nolan is very serious here – maybe too serious. He is good at harrowing — it just always seems we are kept at a distance. Think of this as “Inception” times 10.

“People saw the world for what might have been,” one character says at the end. This did not help me in understanding.

I don’t go to movies to do math. And you shouldn’t have to see a movie again to figure it out, although I’m not sure a second viewing would help anyway, because the story is too convoluted, not to mention flat dialogue and sound-mixing issues.

The movie is very loud – but Ludwig Goransson’s musical score effectively ratchets up danger and suspense with its ominous tone. Goransson won an Oscar for the “Black Panther” score.

The Nolan production team is stellar – magnificent cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema and smart, crisp editing from Jennifer Lame are among its virtues.

For all its pomp, “Tenet” was a victim of circumstance with its release delayed by the coronavirus global pandemic. It has pulled us back in to theaters, but its lack of connection makes the flaws stand out more than the spectacle.

“Tenet” is an action, suspense film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debecki, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine and Hamish Patel. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references and brief strong language. Run-time is 150 minutes. Released on Sept. 3 in movie theaters and IMAX.
Lynn’s Grade: C+ A version of this review was published in the Webster-Kirkwood Times.

Harry Potter Wannabe ‘Artemis Fowl’ a Mess

Harry Potter Wannabe ‘Artemis Fowl’ a Mess

By Lynn Venhaus
In the first of eight books in Eoin Colfer’s successful fantasy series, 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl wants to restore his family’s fortune, so he holds Holly Short (Lara McDonnell), a fairy and captain of the Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance force (LEPRecon), for ransom to exploit the magical Fairy People. In the second book, he allies with the Fairy People to rescue his father. from the Russian Mafia.

Are you with me? At first, he’s a villain and enemy, but as the series continued, he developed and changed into an anti-hero.

The movie, in adapting the first two novels, has substantially changed the story, but if you haven’t read them, you wouldn’t know. However, you can tell that it is a disjointed, disappointing adaptation that will neither satisfy franchise readers nor introduce a compelling story to new fans.

In short, this Harry Potter wannabe is a mess. Resembling bits of Marvel, Star Wars and Fantastic Beasts movies, there is no clear vision in this chaotic mishmash – just a hodgepodge of strange folk that fails to sustain interest, even with all the CGI bells and whistles at their disposal. I am not sure even director Kenneth Branagh knew how to give this story some pizzazz.

Miscasting is a real problem here. Ferdia Shaw is a bland as the lead character who apparently, is a criminal mastermind – but you don’t sense that at all. Josh Gad, as Mulch Diggums, a giant among the tiny folks, and Judi Dench, in a gender-bending role as Commander Root, effect gravelly, growling voices – why? And Gad’s character, in an attempt to make wisecracks and be flippant, got on my last nerve.

Both Colin Farrell and newcomer Lara McDonnel are the film’s saving grace, but they can’t do much about the story’s lack of appeal. Screenwriters Conor McPherson and Hamish McColl do the source material a disservice. It has been in development since 2016. That is the first red flag. The rest of the problems indicate this is a big waste of time.

This film was set to open in theaters but is now available on Disney Plus.

“Artemis Fowl” is a fantasy, sci-fi film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Colin Farrell, Josh Gad and Judi Dench. It is Rated PG for fantasy action/peril and some rude humor and run time is 1 hr. 41 minutes. Lynn’s Grade: D.
Available on Disney Plus streaming service as of June 12.

This review appeared in Webster-Kirkwood Times.