Review of Seven Dials Mystery

"The Seven Dials Mystery" is yet another great mind game from Agatha Christie, which starts out as a rather lighthearted romp, then turns into a fairly simple spy story, but as it approaches the end it takes several 180-degree plot turns that make you re-examine everything you THOUGHT you knew or had taken for granted. These turns also reveal that James Warwick's somewhat exaggerated "jolly-good-British-fellow" performance is actually well-thought-out. As a film, "The Seven Dials Mystery" is flat, paceless, chatter-y and stagy, and although the production is handsome, the fact that it was shot on video makes it look cheaper than it would otherwise. But the strength of Christie's story carries it through - if you're patient. **1/2 out of 4.