Agatha

Pushy American journalist joins the search in 1926 Britain for mystery writer Agatha Christie, who has disappeared upon learning of her husband's extramarital affair, leaving behind a cryptic note taken to be suicidal. Exceedingly handsome production (plagued with troubles behind-the-scenes) is a fictionalized account of a relative non-event, the secret of which Christie apparently took to her grave. Screenwriters Kathleen Tynan and Arthur Hopcraft seem to think they're writing a mystery story along the lines of something the real-life Agatha might have concocted (at least it was marketed that way) but, with so little happening, attention falls on the performances of leads Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave. Hoffman, exhaling cigarette smoke through his nostrils, is almost intentionally unappealing; he looks tiny standing next to his lanky co-star, and is unbearably mannered and stiff (it's one of his weakest performances). Redgrave looks stunning in her elaborate, Oscar-nominated '20s ensembles, and almost manages to create a character even though she's working from next to nothing (the picture is a showcase for her marvelously well-attired look and the graceful way she carries herself--all externals). The direction by Michael Apted is sleek and smooth, relying on the decorative detail to hold our interest. ** from ****

In 1926, when her marriage with a stiff colonel has run down, Agatha Christie mysteriously vanishes. In the middle of both police and public investigation after the famous writer, an American journalist finds her in a Harrogate spa-hotel where, under a pseudonym, she prepares an elaborate revenge against her husband's lover.

Straightly fictitious solution to a famous and still unsolved real-life disappearance, with more attention to gleaming period detail and chillingly murky atmosphere than to suspense or credibility, while Redgrave's finely sensible portrait is downed by the somewhat strained and out-of-place casting of Hoffman as love interest. Eventually, this glossily romantic thriller has its own fascinations and is always well worth looking at, but the mystery is simply not as startling or revealing as one would expect from the Grande Dame of whodunit.

Well photographed, carefully edited film, swimming in supposition. Almost quietly performed. Overall sense of loss and heartache gives further readings into Christie's books a tinged sense of sadness. Mannered but sympathetic acting by the 2 strong leads, balance well off the 2 sort of "villians": the snobby mistress and the caddish husband, played with icy detachment by the future and all too brief James Bond. The stunning visuals look especially nice on a large screen.

Michael Apted created a truly beautiful movie in this period piece. Watching it was an exercise in restraint, beauty, and remarkable taste, each frame seemingly more beautiful than the next. Again, Ms. Redgrave delivers a nuanced but powerful portrayal of this equally powerful mystery writer, who's real life disappearance was thoughtfully imagined in this thought-provoking film. Perhaps the choice of Dustin Hoffman was a bit of a stretch, when his physical height often seemed a little incongruous combined with the extreme height of the statuesque Redgrave, especially during the single love scene. That said, Hoffman's performance was more than up for the task, revealing a degree of stoic steadfastness and street smarts that makes the entire enterprise move along quite well, in spite of its generally slower pace, which English films generally employ to good effect. Never having heard of or seen this film before, catching it on TCM was an interesting and captivating delight.

This quirky tale of Dame Agatha Christie's eleven-day disappearance in December1926 is a speculative account of the mystery, combining a romantic interlude, suicide attempt and desperate race to avert the loss of the world's most popular `Queen of Crime'. The film is not exactly in the style of a Christie plot or typical of one, as there are none of the trademark multiple corpses that usually litter her storylines.

With her marriage on the rocks after being asked for a divorce, following closely upon the death of her mother, Agatha Christie seeks refuge from her coldly indifferent husband (a very apt Timothy Dalton), in the North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate. With the whole country looking for her, Dustin Hoffman is the American reporter, writing for an English paper, who finds, and then seeks to help, her. The difference in stature between the leading protagonists makes for an amusingly incongruous sight on the dance floor, and wisely the invitation to dance the Charleston together is declined. Although Dustin Hoffman's strident journalist strikes a jarring note, Vanessa Redgrave sensitively displays a troubled, if rather elegant, Agatha Christie.

Helen Morse (Picnic at Hanging Rock; Caddie) is delightful as Evelyn Crawley who befriends Agatha, and is very discriminating in her choice of men, making an interesting observation on the unrealistic expectation (by both sexes) of men's fidelity, when she sagely states `Hardly seems worth it. Men change so, that's why choosing is important. Well we can't just let things happen to us.' The fine talents of Timothy West are also involved as the diligent deputy chief constable who withstands Colonel Christie's attempts to quash the hunt for his wife.

When, as expected, her husband's mistress also arrives in Harrogate, Agatha, who had been using her surname as a pseudonym whilst unconvincingly trying to pass herself off as a widow recently returned from South Africa, begins to plot an elaborate revenge. A large part of the film is given to scene setting with nice observations of English class snobbery and a time past. The final part of the film then changes gear from its languorous pace and moves into thriller mode with a race against time.

A fine sense of period detail and Vittorio Storaro's beautifully crafted cinematography enhance this film, with its gentle evocation of the 1920's gentility taking the spa waters for the relief of their multifarious ailments. The famed Victorian architecture borrows from Bath as well as Harrogate, along with York's railway station, and the Old Swan Hotel and Royal Baths are given full promotional treatment.

Although Agatha Christie returned to her husband her marriage finally ended two years later.

In the UK video copies are available through Blackstar and Amazon.