The ABC Murders

Rightly or wrongly this was a story inspired by the original Agatha Christie novel rather than the story itself. Yes it was very different BUT I still found it very watchable. I watched it over 3 consecutive nights and wanted to watch to the end despite knowing 'who dunnit'. I was intrigued to find out about the demons Poirot was wrestling with from his past. It was a tad overlong though, I think two episodes with less padding might have been better, and why they didn't just make something similar with a new detective we didn't know is unfathomable as they made it almost unrecognisable anyway. It would have worked just as well as I thought John Malkovich was very good.

Thanks to David Suchet, people have a specific ideal for Hercule Poirot. He must be arrogant and suave. He must be calm and unruffled, like a deaf partridge. And he must be above all of the petty little squabbles around him. Because he is Poirot.

To be fair, this is also the Hercule Poirot that Agatha Christie designed.

But this is not the Hercule Poirot that Sarah Phelps wrote. If she had gotten the character of Poirot right, I could have overlooked the unfortunate hyper-sexuality, but she didn't, she got him wrong. There has never been a more depressed, morose, or tragic incarnation of Poirot than the one in this miniseries. Now, I could blame John Malkovich, but he did not write the screenplay. Therefore, not his fault. It's not his fault that Sarah Phelps decided to rewrite Poirot's history and turn him into a decades old liar. That offended me the most. The very idea of Poirot lying about his history is even more preposterous than the fabricated background she created for him.

So no. Alas, no. If she'd gotten Poirot right, like I said, the other millstones could have been overlooked and I might have rated a 7 or 8. But when the screenplay writer shows no respect for the origins of a literary character and its creator, that's when I get off the boat.

OK here's my problem with this series. First it is an excellent mystery but they should not have made that an Agatha Christie mystery. The backstory of Hercule Poirot is a complete fabrication. The actor does an excellent job portraying the role given him. The problem is it is a complete variance with the true Agatha Christie character.

I have very mixed feelings - on one side I like the very dark Scandinavian-mystery-like tone of the movie, but the epic fail with the impersonation of Poirot (or the casting of John Malkovich maybe?) is just ridiculous. Hercules Poirot is literally the most known character with his special moustache, egg like head and snobby posh behaviour I have seen none of that. RUpert Grint being here is completely unneccessary - such a bland character. Um, no.

A very dark interpretation. Depressing and oppressive. The gravitas of Poirot, without any of the charm. A waste of talent.