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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Willie Oleson" data-source="post: 347277" data-attributes="member: 8">I'm going to copy [USER=5079]@Crimson[/USER]'s double-feature trend.[ATTACH=full]41992[/ATTACH]As with the disaster movies and TV mini-series of that time, the all-star cast of the Agatha Christie stories has always been a big part of its appeal (or at least it was supposed to be).In the case of Death On The Nile  the ensemble cast works very well, I think. It doesn't matter who's playing opposite who, there's always something interesting going on.Obviously, Agatha Christie had a taste for glamour and boy, does it show in this film. I'm sure she would have been a big fan of the 80s prime time soaps.[ATTACH=full]41993[/ATTACH]Apart from Angela Lansbury's most eccentric character the quirks are relatively mild and yet it could be truly funny sometimes.Maggie Smith, of course, is a fantastic comedy actress and here she plays sort of a pre-Dorothy Zbornak.[ATTACH=full]41994[/ATTACH]This scene is so absurd it made me laugh out loud.[ATTACH=full]41995[/ATTACH]The prettiest, happiest. lonest couple on top of a pyramid (of sorts) and guess who pops up like a ginger jack-in-the-box-from-hell: Mia Farrow!And what makes it work is that it doesn't acknowledge the absurdity of it all but instead plays it as a drama with accusations and insults.Linnet Ridgeway played by Lois Chiles (and I kind of want DALLAS' Holly Harwood and KNOTS' Anne Matheson to be cousins) is a perfectly dislikable monster, someone who has it all and still doesn't hesitate to take more at the expense of less fortunate people.Of course later it turns out that her victims are far from innocent.The story is not without contrivances, for example, Andrew Pennington (George Kennedy) not being in his cabin when Jackie needed  to steal his gun.and I'm sure there are other anticipations regarding characters actions and, consequently, whereabouts.Poirot's extremely detailed explanation of the who-and-what prevents the viewer from having a "ah yes, of course" reaction. There is very little that happens right under our very noses.Not that these mysteries have  to be an interactive experience, but I feel it often adds a bit of fun to the puzzle-solving quality of these stories.Nevertheless, the dramatic conclusion is very satisfying.[ATTACH=full]41996[/ATTACH]Let's get the pretty-shiny stuff out of the way first: apart from the dazzling sets inside the sumpteous hotel this looks a bit bargain bin avant garde compared to the previous movie.It's not entirely without reason: the characters are what they wear.[ATTACH=full]41998[/ATTACH]Subtlety has been completely disgarded and in many instances it plays out as a straight comedy stage play with all the stereotypes required for this setting.Not surprisingly, Maggie Smith's performance is pretty solid and she's much funnier than Diana Rigg in the role of the bitch-diva-turns-murder-victim.I couldn't help rolling my eyes when I saw Roddy McDowall in the part of high society Gay Friend but the character improved as the story went on. I had never noticed before how dark his eyes are.The big reveal, albeit terribly convoluted, is a little more interesting than the one in Death On The Nile because it explains most of what happened on screen.Even though I already sort of knew who dunnit, the marital rows between the Referns - conveniently to be "overheard" by the other guests - already hinted at the possibility that it might be staged.The body swapping scheme was a nice surprise but not without a whiff of the folly as one will often witness in those comedy stage plays. Maybe it depends on your personal angle.[ATTACH=full]42003[/ATTACH]Gee, accidentally screenshot the wrong angle.The tie-in with the seemingly irrelevant opening scene is also very well done and it adds to the kill count in a rather unsettling way.All this evens out the pros and cons of the previous movie and therefore there is no winner.</blockquote>

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