"These psychologists, most of them are balmy themselves.", 20 April 2008
A series of random, seemingly insignificant thefts at her sister's boarding house has Miss Lemon quite agitated. A ring, light bulbs, a rucksack, a lighter, a stethoscope, a shoe – there seems to be no rhyme or reason to any of it. Miss Lemon asks her employer, the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, to look into the matter. But what Poirot sees is something far more sinister than Miss Lemon could have imagined. And Poirot's fears are confirmed when one of the students living in the boarding house if found murdered. It's up to Poirot to bring a killer to justice.
Hickory Dickory Dock is a solid, but not spectacular, entry in the long running Poirot series. I appreciate how faithful the script is to Agatha Christie's original story. I realize that certain liberties had to be taken, but I appreciate the effort nonetheless. The major points of the mystery are all there – the petty thefts, the boarding house, the students, the ripped rucksack, and, of course, Poirot's ability to see something sinister going on before it actually happens. With a few exceptions, the cast of students is almost as I pictured them. Damian Lewis and Jessica Lloyd standout among the group. As mush as I always enjoy David Suchet's Poirot, I get a real kick out of the episodes with Phillip Jackson's Inspector Japp and Pauline Moran's Miss Lemon. This episode is a real treat as Miss Lemon gets more screen time than usual. Finally, I enjoyed the use of the ever present mouse as an observer of the activities in the hostel. It's a fun little play on the Hickory Dickory Dock title.
I realized while re-watching Hickory Dickory Dock just what a tremendous influence Agatha Christie's work was on the highly stylized Italian mystery films, or Gialli, of the 60s and 70s. Take the murder of Mrs. Nicoletis as an example. If you were to bump up the graphic nature of the scene, you would have something straight out of an early 70s Giallo. In fact, the entire plot of Hickory Dickory Dock could have been used in a Giallo. It's just convoluted and interesting enough to have worked.
7/10
"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
