Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (2013)

Best movie ever!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Poirot use to be brilliant. I used to love Poirot. Most recent and latest episodes though feel as if author was on dope and her brain was completely gone, or someone else was writing instead of her. Absurd episodes. This is opinion as if I were Poirot and had to guess what happened to what used to be a brilliant show, but now is completely nonsensical and ran into the ground mush. What is funny that this Review Process is behaving like latest Poirot shows. That is, it demands that I write at least 10 lines. So, I am trying to "water it down", my review, Mon Ami. Just like Poirot was watered-down with nonsensical lines, actions, and other stuff, just to make the show fit into required time length, I presume, Mon Ami.

Where is the fun of the early Suchet Poirot? This episode was boring to look at and boring to listen to. The best thing about it, besides Hastings (yay!), is that they finally stayed fairly true to Agatha Christie's book. Otherwise, we didn't think much of it.Poirot was portrayed as being ornery and we had to listen to him wheeze, not pleasant. In her book, Christie uses words like "twinkling" and "affectionate" and "quiet" and only "faintly scornful" when describing Poirot, but he was so demeaning in the film that by the end, we didn't like him much at all.The cinematography was washed out, which in a film industry that creates such eye-catching TV as Inspector Lewis, Midsomer Murders, and Sherlock is a huge shame and a waste. It's possible to be bleak and picturesque at the same time.Usually we try not to be too critical, but Masterpiece knows how to create fabulous shows, so when they fall below the mark, we speak our mind in hopes that they'll always go for creating characters that we care about and put them in scenery that fascinates. There are many Masterpiece and BBC shows that we watch again and again. These later Poirots aren't in that group. Major bummer.

All prior reviewers' comments regarding the script aside, the acting talents of David Suchet must be addressed here. There is only a small, select group of people that will have had the incredible opportunity to see what I have seen in the past few weeks. I watched this movie about two weeks after I saw David Suchet in "The Last Confession" on stage in Australia. In this move (Curtain), he plays an old, bloated (even fat), very ill man. One could truly believe he was on his last leg. However, just a few weeks ago (less than a year after this movie was made), I had the pleasure of seeing his performance in "The Last Confession". In this play, he was vital, animated, incredibly energetic, vibrant, extremely fit (even buff!), and nothing short of amazing. This is a testament to his amazing acting talent that he could go from being the character in this movie (Curtain), of course with a big nod to make-up, padding, etc., to the amazing character on stage I saw. I really didn't have a thorough appreciation of his acting chops until I saw him in this play.

Ever since seeing Sad Cypress for the first time 10 years ago, I have been a loyal fan of Agatha Christie: Poirot and of Agatha Christie. The series has been a pleasure to watch in so many ways, even when you see an episode countless times you find something more to like further about it and pick up on things you didn't see before. And mostly the quality has been very high, there are a handful of truly outstanding adaptations(After the Funeral, Five Little Pigs, Sad Cypress, Wasps Nest, The Chocolate Box, Adventure of the Italian Nobleman, The ABC Murders, Peril at End House), a few disappointing ones(Taken at the Flood, Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Adventure of Johnny Waverly, Mystery of the Blue Train, Labours of Hercules, none of them are terrible though or below 5/10 on personal ranking) and rest decent to very good(even the much-maligned, but to me underrated, Appointment with Death and Murder on the Orient Express).The 13th season, like most of the seasons in the series(mostly the later ones) hasn't been consistent. Dead Man's Folly and Elephants Can Remember(the latter being much better than the source material)were excellent; The Big Four was mostly enjoyable but let down by the final solution, Simon Lowe and Miss Lemon and Hastings being wasted; and Labours of Hercules was a disappointment, had a number of good things but too dull and jumbled, and like Cards on the Table it tries to cram in too many ideas and didn't develop them enough. Curtain: Poirot's Last Case has been the adaptation that I, and many others most definitely, had been most anticipating, mainly because we wanted to see whether it would a good episode and send-off and that it is based on great source material. The book is very clever and poignant with one of Christie's mot ingenious solutions, an atmosphere that is ominous and poignant, strong characters and a cunning plot.Curtain: Poirot's Last Case does manage to be a good episode and good send-off. No, scratch that, it is wonderful in both areas. Maybe it could have been longer perhaps and the ominous components in the book, while present and well-incorporated, are quite not as powerful. These are nit-picky really, and those aside Curtain: Poirot's Last Case is spot on. Not just the best of the 13th season but possibly also the best adaptation since After the Funeral. "Purists" will be happy that the adaptation is very faithful to the book, in most details, spirit, dialogue, structure and atmosphere. Any changes are very few and very minor.It is a beautifully made adaptation, not as sumptuous as others(Five Little Pigs comes to mind) but it is shot with affection, the period detail is splendid and evocative and the haunting and melancholic look the adaptation adopts, as seen in the colours and how it's lit, fits wonders with the tone of the book and story. Christian Henson's music, which has more of a somewhat cinematic sound to it than Christopher Gunning's, has subtle parts and powerfully orchestrated ones without feeling too intrusive or brash. The use of Chopin's Raindrop Prelude is lovely. The dialogue is very thought-provoking and beautifully written, much of it like it's directly lifted out of Christie's writing. Poirot's treatment of Hastings might be a turn-off point for some in comparison to before, understandably as we are not used to Poirot being like that but it wasn't a problem to me considering the state Poirot is in throughout. And you can still see parts that are reminiscent of Poirot and Hastings in the older adaptations.No disappointment to be seen in the story here. The opening is really haunting and adeptly sets the tone for what was to come, while moving does not describe the ending enough, admittedly I get emotional easily but we're talking about getting-through-at-least-half-a-box-of-tissues quality here. Not only because it's so well done but also the fact that we are saying goodbye to a great series and an iconic detective. Above all, the mystery itself is incredibly compelling, the final solution is still ingenious and you are kept guessing and pleasantly surprised throughout, and the atmosphere/tone of the book is translated faithfully here in the adaptation. The direction wisely doesn't veer between being too theatrical or too low-key, instead the drama is allowed to resonate within the deliberate but never tedious pace while keeping the mystery alive.David Suchet is the definitive Poirot and he hasn't disappointed in any of the episodes of the series. He always is impeccable, but while there is still a little twinkle in the eye and the brilliant mind he is genuinely moving here(Poirot has never been as affecting as here), a tour-De-force, both in how he says his line and physically. It's lovely to see Hugh Fraser again, his role of Hastings being much more substantial than it was to Big Four and it really shows in his performance. There are times where Fraser comes close to out-doing Suchet, there is much more emotion and dimension to what was seen with Hastings before and I'd go as far to say that Fraser gives his best performance of the series, though he and Suchet have always been a joy to watch. The acting is excellent from all, Aiden McArdle(one of the more interesting supporting characters, his mind games have a subtle twisted menace to them), Helen Baxendale, an appropriately sour-faced Anne Reid and beguiling Alice Orr-Ewing standing out.Overall, a powerful swan-song and a wonderful final episode. As much-missed as this truly great series(one of the best of its kind actually) will be, at least there'll be re-runs and the box-sets, so we can revisit it still, it just won't be the same without not having a new episode to look forward to. And it will be criminal if Suchet doesn't get some award recognition for being such a large part of why the series is as good as it is. 9/10 Bethany Cox