TheLittleSongbird
Even on its own terms as well. I love the book, Agatha Christie and Poirot so they are good reasons for having your expectations high. But Lord Edgware Dies is a real disappointment all round. I will go as far to say that it is one of the worst Agatha Christie adaptations, and with the Geraldine McEwan versions of At Bertram's Hotel and Sittaford Mystery there are some bad ones. Most of them though are pretty good to outstanding. There are too many things wrong, but a good place to start is the acting. Jane Carr comes off best but even she is disallowed to do much with the role of Lady Edgware, who is more cardboard cut-out than enigmatic and stylish as I imagine her to be. The others are bland and are given nothing to do. But it is the Poirot of Austin Trevor that really lets the side down, considering that he is the central character you rely him to carry any adaptation he's in. Trevor is so bad that he makes you wince, he makes no attempt to look, sound and act like Poirot and he is also very annoying. The undeveloped and cardboard characters, stilted dialogue that has none of the intelligence of Christie's writing, sluggish pacing and storytelling that is completely lacking in suspense and involvement in the mystery also don't help matters whatsoever. Overall, disappointing and a real mess as an adaptation and on its own(the latter of which I always try to base my opinion of an adaptation on). Watch the David Suchet and Peter Ustinov versions instead. 1/10 Bethany Cox
