Murder on the Orient Express is diverting – but not heart-stopping
SCREW the top back on your tub of wax and get out the razor – the race for the best Movember moustache is officially over.
Kenneth Branagh is the winner – by a very long, and very distracting, whisker.
The facial hair he has grown to play Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is the star of this film, with more twists than . . . well, an Agatha Christie mystery.
Rather than sitting back to consider the clues in a comfy chair, Branagh’s show-stopping Poirot is chasing suspects and tackling adversaries with a dazzling zest.
Branagh, who also directs, wisely focuses on the detective and his moral dilemmas rather than the murder mystery.
That’s because Christie’s story is so famous it has become a “who-doesn’t -know-whodunnit”.
And – apart from the excellent Michelle Pfeiffer – most of the stellar cast just chug along.
Daisy Ridley has all the glamour and reliability of the Southern Rail service to Crawley, while Johnny Depp’s mumbling is less intelligible than a concourse announcer. And Dame Judi Dench gets used less than an “on time” sign.
It makes for a diverting journey with some familiar faces, rather than a heart-stopping trip.
Murder on the Orient Express
(12A) 114mins
★★★
