A Haunting In Venice

 

Premiered September 15, 2023.

Dateline:Venice, Italy, October 31, 1947. 

Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), the world's greatest detective, has retired from solving crimes and now lives a quiet life in Venice. His bodyguard, a former policeman named Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio), protects Poirot from people who seek his detective services and those who would harm him.

Since the end of World War II, Venice has been occupied by U.S. troops. The Americans have brought their Halloween traditions with them. Venetian children are wearing costumes and marching in a Halloween parade. 

Poirot is visited by mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), who has written stories based on Poirot's exploits. She invites Poirot and Vitale to attend a séance at a villa owned by opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly). The séance will be conducted by a medium named Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh). Oliver wants Poirot to expose Drake as a charlatan. 

We learn that the villa used to be an orphanage that is allegedly haunted by spirits of children left to die during the plague epidemic. 

As the evening progresses, strange, seemingly supernatural events occur and dead bodies begin to pile up in the villa. Is the villa truly haunted? Or is there a more conventional explanation for the multiple deaths? The only man who can answer those questions and solve the mystery is Hercule Poirot!

J.A. Morris says:
I am reluctant to say much about the plot of A Haunting In Venice because to do so would spoil it. I've read some Agatha Christie stories, but I was completely unfamiliar with this Hercule Poirot adventure. In short, this is a typical Christie mystery, with the added bonus that it takes place on Halloween! If you're a fan of Christie and Halloween (like I am), you will enjoy A Haunting In Venice. 

This film marks the third time Kenneth Branagh has portrayed Poirot. He's as good as ever and Branagh also directed A Haunting In Venice. The rest of the cast provides good support and it's beautifully filmed. Branagh creates an atmosphere that makes the villa feel creepy and otherworldly.

While I enjoyed this movie, I didn't feel that it took enough advantage of the fact that it was a theatrical film. It looked great on the big screen, but it just felt like a "very good TV movie," nothing more, nothing less. It could've used a few more jump scares too. 

However, it's still lots of fun and it's something I could see watching around Halloween in the future. A Haunting In Venice is recommended, but it's limitations keep me from giving it a higher rating. 

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

2 and a half jack-o-lanterns.

RigbyMel says: 
A Haunting in Venice is an entertaining whodunit with a creepy edge. 1940s Halloween costumes are creepy all by themselves, and we get a well-staged séance, creepy visions, disembodied voices and murder to boot. 

The story is rather loosely based on Agatha Christie's 1969 book Hallowe'en Party. But it mostly only retains the children's party, an incident involving bobbing for apples and several character names.  I guess the Venice setting was deemed more visually interesting than an English country house? That being said, the Venetian setting does give us a reason (a bad storm) to keep Poirot and suspects trapped in the spooky haunted orphanage. Moreover, Venice's traditions of masquerade and carnival fit in nicely as a backdrop to the Halloween proceedings. 

I enjoyed Poirot's skepticism of the supernatural and its juxtaposition with the weird setting and possibly supernatural occurrences. Kenneth Branagh does a great job of portraying Poirot's ego and skepticism during the course of the film. Michelle Yeoh is excellent as the medium Joyce Reynolds and Tina Fey does fine as the Christie-esque author Ariadne Oliver.   

I like how the film uses its post-WW2 setting to develop themes regarding people being haunted by their war experiences, it adds a bit of depth to the proceedings.   

There were elements of the plot that felt a bit cliched and underwritten at times, but the setting and the actors make A Haunting in Venice worthwhile.  

RigbyMel's rating: 

3 jack-o-lanterns 

Last Christmas (2019)

Premiered November 8, 2019.

Kate (Emilia Clarke) is going through a rough patch as Christmas approaches. She has no real place to live, has flopped in her latest singing audition and has a complicated relationship with her immigrant family.  The only stable part of her life is her job. Kate works as an elf in a Christmas shop. Her boss “Santa” (Michelle Yeoh) likes her “elf,” but feels Kate’s work ethic has faltered ever since she recovered from a health crisis the previous Christmas.  

Her life improves when she meets a customer named Tom Webster (Henry Golding).  He encourages Kate to “look up” and appreciate all the good things in her life and in London.  Tom also suggests that Kate should swallow her pride and go stay with her parents, which she does.  

Kate and Tom spend lots of time together, exploring bits of London that she never knew existed.  When she visits a homeless shelter where Tom volunteers, Kate realizes she can fund raise for the shelter by singing Christmas songs in the street for money.    She learns that doing good things for others makes her feel much better about life.  

Will Kate manage to patch things up with the family and friends she has alienated?  Will she find happiness with Tom? You’ll have to go see this movie which was written by Emma Thompson and features the music of George Michael to find out. 

J.A. Morris says:

Last Christmas is a good movie that features a great cast.  Emilia Clark and Henry Golding are very likable actors and I found myself rooting for them right away.  Since Kate works in a Christmas specialty store, we get a lot more holiday decorations and imagery than you see in most Christmas films.  Emma Thompson is one of the greatest actresses of all time and she's great here as Kate's mother Petra.  

Michelle Yeoh is almost perfect playing the "good boss" role.  You might say that Yeoh's Santa character is a sort of "second mother" to Kate.

London is a great city and director Paul Feig does a nice job showing it off.  While the city is lit up for Christmas, the London of Last Christmas isn't a fairy tale version of the city, and the script isn't afraid to comment on current events in the UK (my co-blogger will say more about this).

I'll admit that I've never been a fan of the Wham! song that gave the film its title.  However, Clarke performs a version of "Last Christmas" that's a bit more up tempo and I liked it better than the original (and most other cover versions I can think of).  The soundtrack features "Last Christmas" and about a dozen other George Michael/Wham! songs.  So you'll probably like this film more if you're a George Michael fan. 

I'm reluctant to say too much because this movie is still in current release and I don't want to spoil the story.  So I'll just say that Last Christmas is recommended and I encourage fans of Christmas films to see it while it's playing on big screens.  George Michael fans will probably like it more than others.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 candy canes.

RigbyMel says: 

Last Christmas is an enjoyable holiday trifle with a lot of heart.  Christmas movies do have a tendency to be pretty formulaic,  but this is a well-told holiday tale with a twist, that I don't want to spoil.  Credit is due to Emma Thompson for crafting a touching story. 

As J.A. Morris says, the cast is top-notch and the leads are appealing and likeable.   

Plus, it's always nice to see bits of London done up for the holidays.  We see a fair amount of Oxford Street as well as Covent Garden (where "Santa's" Christmas shop is located) and bits of Camden Market (I think) and Marylebone.  

It's not all fairy lights and tinsel though, and I appreciated the embedded message regarding Brexit- related xenophobia that is directly addressed in a couple of scenes and more subtly addressed by showing that London is (and has always been) a multicultural city via good casting choices.  

One's mileage may vary in terms of the soundtrack -- I quite like George Michael's oeuvre in general, but have never particularly been a fan of the title song -- but it's well used in service of the story and the uptempo version of "Last Christmas" sung by Kate and friends made me like the song a little better.

Overall,  Last Christmas is a very enjoyable holiday confection and is well worth a visit to the cinema this season if one is so inclined!  

RigbyMel's rating:  

.5

Three and a half candy canes