Poirot "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" #6.1 (1995) (TV)

"I have yet to meet anybody in this household that has even the most rudimentary sense of humor.", 9 April 2008

Harry Lee, a wealthy and curmudgeonly old coot, invites Hercule Poirot to spend Christmas with him and his dysfunctional, greedy, money-hungry relatives. On hand are Lee's three sons, their two wives, and a Spanish granddaughter whose late mother was Lee's only daughter. Though Lee seems to relish tormenting his offspring with talk of changing his will, he tells Poirot that he's afraid for his life and wants Poirot to keep and eye on his family. As it turns out, Harry Lee's fears are proved to have been well founded when he's discovered with his throat slashed behind a locked door. With the able and welcome assistance of his friend Inspector Japp, Poirot sets out to find a killer for Christmas.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas is one of the very few Agatha Christie books that I haven't read. Therefore, I have no idea how faithful or unfaithful the movie is to the book. And quite honestly, that may be one of the reasons I enjoyed Hercule Poirot's Christmas so much – I went into it completely blind with no expectations. It has all the traits that I love about a good Agatha Christie mystery – a murder committed in a locked room, a house full of greedy relatives, a bitter old coot of a murder victim, and a gathering of the suspects for the final reveal. The killer's identity wasn't too awfully difficult to figure out, but the how it was done was quite interesting. Like most of the Poirot episodes, Hercule Poirot's Christmas looks fantastic with interesting sets, nice period touches, and solid cinematography and lighting. The acting from most of the supporting players is what I would call okay. The exceptions would be the notable performances of Vernon Dobtcheff as Harry Lee and Sasha Behar as Pilar Estravados. Phillip Jackson gives his usual enjoyable performance as Inspector Japp. And David Suchet is as good as always in the role of Poirot. I can't believe that there was a time just a few years ago when I didn't care for Suchet. Now, not only do I enjoy Suchet's performances, but I consider him the definitive screen version of Poirot. Quite simply, David Suchet IS Poirot!

8/10