"Murder on the Orient Express" (2017)

Howdy, guys--

Sorry I haven't responded; I've been gone for a few days for Easter.

hi224, I think the casting is fairly decent, though I have my doubts about one or two choices. Certainly, Depp would not have been my first choice for the Ratchett role, but I think he can pull it off. It does seem strange that he'd be in the movie for such a short time, though

I understand what you mean about the cast's eclecticism, mecano04, but that seems typical of Branagh. I mean, think of his Hamlet: Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, and Charlton Heston, among many others, in the same Shakespeare adaptation! (If Fred Astaire had been alive, I'm sure Branagh would have cast him!) Branagh also likes giving minorities central roles in traditionally all-white casts, which is fine with, and actually rather appreciated by, me as long as it doesn't severely impact the story (i.e., making two characters, supposed to be siblings, of different races). In fact, it may work perfectly for Murder on the Orient Express, as the point is supposed to be that

politicidal, I also can't see Branagh's changing the story. He has been incredibly faithful to his trust in the Shakespeare adaptations and in Cinderella. (In fact, that very fidelity in the latter case is what made the picture so unexpectedly strong: it's the only modern live-action version of a Disney cartoon that has any merit or reason for existence, in my opinion.) I wouldn't be expected if he treats Christie as he did with Shakespeare or Cinderella. (Some may claim Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the pointed exception, but one must concede it is the closest adaptation to the letter, if not the tone, of Shelley's book.) Also, I agree with Morgana that playing around with the ending would change the whole story, as Christie's book is built like a complicated machine, with every part needing to be in place for the whole to exist at all.

baj2, I'm not exactly sure about a fresh "insight"--Christie's book, for its virtues, is not particularly insightful--but I think that the picture will be different enough from the '74 version. I'm not actually all that fond of the '74 picture--it's a little too slow and dull, certainly grandiose and probably grandiloquent, for my tastes, though Finney's Poirot is superb--and prefer the less grand but more fun sequel, '78's Death on the Nile. Therefore, I'm hoping this new version is actually better and more entertaining. Though I must say that, as much as I like it, Orient Express was a strange choice for adaptation even originally: it's a bit stagnant, less in storytelling than in plot (they're all on a snowbound train that's not moving anywhere, and the plot--not the puzzle!--consists purely of interviews). Probably, the reason is that it's such an actors' ensemble piece--which is why it was easy to give dear Ingrid Bergman a lifetime achievement award in the form of an Oscar for her small performance as Greta Ohlsson.

Thanks so much for responding, guys! I hope you all had a happy Easter.

Ah, thanks for explaining, Baj2. I know very little about what companies do with releasing their trailers. But I wonder why there would be an "embargo"...