This is a lovely adaptation of The Body in the Library.
One of the best things about it is the relationship between the Melchett's. The two actors have such great chemistry, and you really get a sense of how solid their relationship is. How well they work together.
Hickson plays Marple brilliantly. She's kind, and sweet. If one doesn't pay attention, they will miss the twinkle of genuine intelligence in her eyes. The way they take everything in, missing nothing. Knowing and studying all.
The locations, set design, and direction are all similarly brilliant. You get a wonderful sense of place and time.
However, the adaptation does fall down in one area. And it is a major one.
The casting of Trudie Skylar in a pretty major role. If you know anything about the story, you'll understand immediately what I mean.
She's just... awful. Absolutely, stunningly awful in the role. It's not often one performance rips me from a film so completely that I wish she was not in it at all.
Skylar does this each time she appears. It is hard to understand how she could be allowed to give a performance like this unless everyone on set was asleep while she was there.
Even the minor characters are better equipped than she is to handle the task.
I do wonder if it is a failure of direction or whether she's just an awful actress, as I have not seen her before. I do not understand how she was cast or how anyone could fathom that her performance was good enough to print.
Other than her, however, what you have here is a good bit of English cosy mystery that is well worth a watch.
One of the best things about it is the relationship between the Melchett's. The two actors have such great chemistry, and you really get a sense of how solid their relationship is. How well they work together.
Hickson plays Marple brilliantly. She's kind, and sweet. If one doesn't pay attention, they will miss the twinkle of genuine intelligence in her eyes. The way they take everything in, missing nothing. Knowing and studying all.
The locations, set design, and direction are all similarly brilliant. You get a wonderful sense of place and time.
However, the adaptation does fall down in one area. And it is a major one.
The casting of Trudie Skylar in a pretty major role. If you know anything about the story, you'll understand immediately what I mean.
She's just... awful. Absolutely, stunningly awful in the role. It's not often one performance rips me from a film so completely that I wish she was not in it at all.
Skylar does this each time she appears. It is hard to understand how she could be allowed to give a performance like this unless everyone on set was asleep while she was there.
Even the minor characters are better equipped than she is to handle the task.
I do wonder if it is a failure of direction or whether she's just an awful actress, as I have not seen her before. I do not understand how she was cast or how anyone could fathom that her performance was good enough to print.
Other than her, however, what you have here is a good bit of English cosy mystery that is well worth a watch.