Poirot "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" #7.1 (2000) (TV)

"I beg of you a thousand pardons, but these vegetable marrows, they have driven me to the edges of barbarity!", 2 August 2007

In most instances, I like to begin one of these "reviews" (I put that word in parentheses because I'm not sure that what I'm doing here would actually constitute a "review") with a plot summary. But, this being Agatha Christie and all, I would hate to give away even the most insignificant of clues. So I'll be very glib and just say that there's a murder, lots of suspects, and Hercule Poirot (I told you I was being glib).

I was prepared to write a rather lengthy review detailing all of my many problems with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, but after reading what others have already written on IMDb, I'm not sure I see much of a reason. The issues I have with the film have been spelled-out more eloquently than I could ever hope. Like many other Agatha Christie fans, I've always thought of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as one of her better efforts. It's a clever mystery told in an unusual style (at least unusual for Christie). As other reviewers have noted, gone is much of the mystery that makes the book so wonderful. Instead, the movie adds on a quite tacky finale that's completely out of character with the source material. I understand that creative license must be taken to bring these novels to television, but this time it's just too much. I could, and probably should, have rated The Murder of Roger Ackroyd lower, but the acting, sets, locations, etc. are too enjoyable to rate it a total disaster.

Maybe someday someone will tackle The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and gets it right.

4/10