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
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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
Audience Member
After numerous other theatrical and made-for-television adaptions where Peter Ustinov played Hercule Poirot, including Murder On The Orient-Express, this would be the actor's last time playing the role.
This time, he was directed by Michael Winner, who you probably wouldn't consider for the restrained world of Agatha Christie. He spoke to this by saying, "You won't see Lauren Bacall walking around machine-gunning everyone. In fact, it's my first picture in years that was under budget on blood."
Bacall plays Lady Westholme, an American become British high society lady and a member of Parliament for the Conservative Party as the result of marriage. She's on her way to Jerusalem along with her secretary Miss Quinton (Hayley Mills!) and lawyer Jefferson Cope (David Soul) by sea, the same voyage that also has the troubled Boynton family — Lennox (Nicholas Guest), Raymond (John Terlesky — what!?! Deathstalker!?!), Carol (Valerie Richards) and Ginerva (Amber Bezer) — who she shares the law services of Cope with, as the Boynton children are pretty much slaves to their stepmother Emily (Piper Laurie), unless the new will goes through.
Poirot also meets up with an old friend, Dr. Sarah King (Jenny Seagrove), who falls for Raymond, all as Cope is having an affair with Lennox's wife Nadine (Carrie Fisher), which really seems to be so many coincidences that all gathered these people all on the same boat. And oh yeah, John Gielgud is on board to play Colonel Carbury. He described leaving to in this movie as such: "Leaving for Israel to do a rather absurd part in an Agatha Christie… Peter Ustinov and Betty Bacall are to be in it and possibly Michael York, so it might be fun, even with that vulgar, but quite funny director, Michael Winner."
In late Cannon fashion, the budget was cut from $9 million to $7.5 million and then to $6 million. When they wanted to cut it further to $5.5 million, Ustinov threatened to quit and if he left, so would the rest of the cast. Most of the cast — particularly Bacall — were shocked that this was filmed in Israel in the hot summer instead of a sound stage or in England.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
It's slightly better than people say it is. The performances are all fine. It's a thin story. The theme music is hilariously inappropriate.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Whilst Peter Ustinov was always a joy to watch on screen, he is to Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot what Margaret Rutherford was to Miss Marple. That is to say, he bears not resemblance at all to the character.
Of his stints in the role, this is by far the least successful and much of the blame can be laid at the feet of director Michael Winner who bludgeons his way through the action with little care. The fact that Ustinov and the rest of the very starry cast manage to wring any drop of humour, intrigue or interest from the script and plot is despite Winner's best intentions and is a testament to their combined skills and talents. If you want to see how it could have been, stick to the Ustinov version of Death on the Nile which knocks this one way out of the ring.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
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