Appointment With Death

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Ramona L I guess my perspective goes against the majority, but I find Utinov to be the worst Poirot imaginable. His accent is pitiable as is his acting. The other stars seem to be playing for laughs. Every performance is over the top. I really wanted to like it. I tried, but didn't succeed. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 12/21/24 Full Review Alec B Ustinov is still a great Poirot but this is mostly a bore. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/02/24 Full Review Ted B This has to be the worst of all the big-budget, star-studded Agatha Christie movies. The acting was certainly ''made for TV' level. Peter Ustinov was the most consistent in his role as Hercule Poirot. However, the rest of the cast simply did a walk-through of their roles. It was disappointing for me to see the likes of Lauren Bacall and Piper Laurie performing at a subpar level, although I do realize they were both at the end of their careers and the $$ was good. The adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's less popular novels did leave a lot to be desired. There were way too many 'red herrings' that were easy to discount. Perhaps what disappointed me the most was that I was able to figure out the ending well before it even happened. I did enjoy the location shots. The cinematography was very good. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/11/24 Full Review Cary G Pure schlock. The acting was uniformly atrocious. The film score was so off putting and distracting. Do not waste your time . Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/22/23 Full Review Steve D A lesser story that is too easy to predict but contrived. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/20/23 Full Review matthew d A rather forgettable foray into Poirot. Director Michael Winner's murder mystery Appointment with Death (1988) is probably the worst whodunit movie I've seen in awhile. It's certainly the worst Poirot movie until the dreadful Kenneth Branagh ones. Winner's direction is bland and gives away far too much. Cinematographers David Gurkinel and David Wynn-Jones shoot random things in close-ups for no reason and their wide shots of Israel leave something to be desired. There is not that pleasant relaxed vibe like the other Peter Ustinov movies of Poirot. Michael Winner's editing gets hectic and confusing, while also providing a slow pace. Agatha Christie's murder mystery story is one of her less remarkable whodunit narratives. It's very predictable and dull with little of the genius of Christie's better stories like Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, or Evil Under the Sun. Peter Ustinov is very charming and funny as the clever detective Hercule Poirot. He is one of the sole pleasures of Appointment with Death. He feels smart and cunning, though Ustinov seems more irritable in the role this time than his jovial appearances in Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun. Lauren Bacall plays an obnoxious loudmouth well. Her clear disdain for everyone is apparent. Carrie Fisher is pretty good as an adulterer. John Gielgud is funny as Poirot's Colonel friend, but he's really not in it enough. Piper Laurie is hilarious as her bossy step-mother. Her yelling at her grown children is entertaining. Hayley Mills is fine as the excavator on vacation. Jenny Seagrove is wonderful and charming as a doctor traveling on vacation. David Soul is too obvious as a corrupt lawyer. Nicholas Guest looks repulsed by everything that happens, but his character is ludicrous like he'd just hang around with the man his wife was cheating on him with, like honestly. John Blezard's production puts up some tents and dresses up some neat historical spots. I wish Avishay Avivi's art direction had some more striking visuals as this should feel hot, bright, and gorgeous, but it just feels small and dull to look at really. John Bloomfield plays around with the period costumes like Poirot overly stuffy suits and the lovely white desert clothes for the actresses. Composer Pino Donaggio was absolutely the wrong choice as his Italian horns sound like 1980's bubbly music like the theme song to Cheers. Who thought this was appropriate as for the score for a murder mystery? In short, I did not love nor hate Appointment with Death. It's perfectly fine, but that's a shame as the previous Peter Ustinov starring Poirot films are wonderful. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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