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Poirot - Murder on the Links
Acorn Media // Unrated // March 26, 2002
List Price: $24.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Agatha Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) is at it again... only this time, he's solving mysteries while he's supposed to be on vacation. While staying at the "Hotel du Golf" with his friend Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser), Poirot stumbles upon a curious kidnapping-murder case that resonates with one that made the headlines many years earlier. It's not really his territory, but Poirot can't resist the temptation to unravel the puzzle, and puncture the ego of the French detective on the case at the same time.
Murder on the Links isn't bad, but it's certainly not one of the better Poirot mysteries. The puzzles in Agatha Christie's mysteries are usually fairly convoluted, yet fairly well-defined: once the central mystery has been identified, the story moves through various layers of complications and additional clues to eventually hit the center. In this case, however, the "puzzle" wanders all over the place. From the starting point to the end of the film, new elements are added, new characters are revealed, new motivations are added, and more crimes (or intended crimes) are added to the mix, making for a very baroque feel to the film. One of the pleasures of watching a good mystery film (as with reading a good mystery book) is trying to solve the puzzle along with the detective, but in this case, it's not really possible, as new pieces keep getting pulled out of the hat.
The pacing is probably what's mainly off in this film. Rather than building to a solid and satisfying resolution, with false leads and twists and turns along the way, Murder on the Links comes across as a muddled situation from start to finish. Even Poirot's signature "drawing-room revelation" seems forced; it's tacked on to the story at what feels like the wrong point. Other elements don't quite fit as well, such as the competition between Poirot and the conceited French detective as to who can solve the crime first. It's a minor element to the story, but it's given more screen time than is really necessary.
Video
Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the DVD transfer of Murder on the Links is fairly good. Some scenes look a bit grainy, and contrast could be a bit better, but on the whole the image is clear and fairly sharp.
Audio
Murder on the Links' Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is sufficient for the task at hand, which is to convey a mainly dialogue-centered story. There's nothing particularly impressive about it, but it gets the job done, offering reasonably clear dialogue and music.
Extras
The DVD of this Poirot mystery contains the same special features as are found on all of the other Poirot DVDs put out by Acorn Media: text biographies of Agatha Christie and David Suchet, trivia, cast filmographies, and some text material on Christie.
Final thoughts
Murder on the Links ends up being an adequate but not particularly outstanding addition to the series of Poirot mysteries being released on DVD. Fans of the series will, of course, want to pick up this DVD, and will probably find this a moderately enjoyable addition to their collection. For those viewers who are looking not for a complete Poirot set, but for just a good mystery, I'd recommend starting with buying a different film from the series, such as the excellent Hickory Dickory Dock, also available on DVD, and renting Murder on the Links.
Murder on the Links isn't bad, but it's certainly not one of the better Poirot mysteries. The puzzles in Agatha Christie's mysteries are usually fairly convoluted, yet fairly well-defined: once the central mystery has been identified, the story moves through various layers of complications and additional clues to eventually hit the center. In this case, however, the "puzzle" wanders all over the place. From the starting point to the end of the film, new elements are added, new characters are revealed, new motivations are added, and more crimes (or intended crimes) are added to the mix, making for a very baroque feel to the film. One of the pleasures of watching a good mystery film (as with reading a good mystery book) is trying to solve the puzzle along with the detective, but in this case, it's not really possible, as new pieces keep getting pulled out of the hat.
The pacing is probably what's mainly off in this film. Rather than building to a solid and satisfying resolution, with false leads and twists and turns along the way, Murder on the Links comes across as a muddled situation from start to finish. Even Poirot's signature "drawing-room revelation" seems forced; it's tacked on to the story at what feels like the wrong point. Other elements don't quite fit as well, such as the competition between Poirot and the conceited French detective as to who can solve the crime first. It's a minor element to the story, but it's given more screen time than is really necessary.
Video
Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the DVD transfer of Murder on the Links is fairly good. Some scenes look a bit grainy, and contrast could be a bit better, but on the whole the image is clear and fairly sharp.
Audio
Murder on the Links' Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is sufficient for the task at hand, which is to convey a mainly dialogue-centered story. There's nothing particularly impressive about it, but it gets the job done, offering reasonably clear dialogue and music.
Extras
The DVD of this Poirot mystery contains the same special features as are found on all of the other Poirot DVDs put out by Acorn Media: text biographies of Agatha Christie and David Suchet, trivia, cast filmographies, and some text material on Christie.
Final thoughts
Murder on the Links ends up being an adequate but not particularly outstanding addition to the series of Poirot mysteries being released on DVD. Fans of the series will, of course, want to pick up this DVD, and will probably find this a moderately enjoyable addition to their collection. For those viewers who are looking not for a complete Poirot set, but for just a good mystery, I'd recommend starting with buying a different film from the series, such as the excellent Hickory Dickory Dock, also available on DVD, and renting Murder on the Links.
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