CHICAGO– “Murder On The Orient Express” is a movie that is never quite as interesting as the main character’s mustache. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars as Agatha Christie’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot. While it is a departure from the source novel, Branagh sports silver streak facial hair of audacious eccentricity.
 Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
It’s as though a plume of smoke from the legendary train’s engine had set roots down on his upper lip. The mustache and the train are the best things about this star-studded-but-inert retelling of the famous mystery from author Agatha Christie. Director Branagh took cues from the 1974 film version, as he stocks the train with recognizable stars… including Penelope Cruz as a spanish missionary, Willem Dafoe as a racist Austrian scientist, Judi Dench wearing a permanent scowl as an aging russian princess, Johnny Depp as an art dealer with questionable business practices – along with his valet (Derek Jacobi) and personal secretary (Josh Gad) – and Michelle Pfeiffer turns up as a rich socialite who is seemingly out husband hunting. Eventually one of them turns up dead, and the train becomes stranded on the tracks by an avalanche. Master detective Hercule Poirot agrees to take the case.
Continue reading for Spike Walter’s full review of “Murder on the Orient Express”
Kenneth Branagh Sports The ‘Stache in ‘Murder on the Orient Express’
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
Continue reading for Spike Walter’s full review of “Murder on the Orient Express”