Poirot: Appointment with Death (2008)
Season 11, Episode 4
7/10
An enjoyable episode in which a murder takes place when Hercule Poirot enjoys vacation at an archeological dig in Syria
16 February 2018
Suspense and intrigue with Poirot on holidays . A colorful whodunnit with an all star cast giving terrific performances , and exotic locales . Big-name cast as suspects of a murder committed in Syria and Poirot trying to unravel the killer , being especially appointed for avid fans of Agatha Christie , though including creation of new roles and the omission of others , adding all of them to the mix . This whodunit deals with Hercules Poirot (David Suchet) as the Belgian sleuth man in the case of killing a wealthy , unpopular heiress (Cheryl Campbell) , being found murdered by stabbing at an archaeological dig during a luxurious journey . He investigates the travelers and as numerous suspects , all the support cast (Christina Cole , Tom Riley , Zoe Boyle , Tim Curry, Emma Cunniffe ,Tom Riley ,Christian McKay , Beth Goddard , Mark Gatiss Elizabeth McGovern , John Hannah) . Who is the killer? , can he find the guilty? . Meanwhile , Hercules Poirot is helped by a British Colonel (Paul Freeman) . After the clues have been shown we will get a chance to give the answer with Poirot finding out about the culprit at a twisted finale with outstanding surprises but are taken the murders from different viewpoints of everyone which it makes a little bit boring, pedestrian , endless and overlong.

The film is a detective story in which you are the detective . In the picture there are mysteries , emotion, a love story , suspense and wonderful outdoors from Syria . The premise is simple : a rich heiress is found murdered , can Poirot identify the killer before he ends his journey? , but changing some aspects from original novel as the real reasons and adding another murderer . There are several fake clues , lies and red herrings , as Hercule is about to uncover a murder so carefully planned that even he must admit that the murderer has thought of everything .The pace is deliberate , slow and relaxed . And while the dialogue is in English, the film has a deliciously international flavor , with a mix of interesting accents and word pronunciations . Actors's interpretations are wonderful and including sunny outdoors . Filming had to be stopped every day at noon for around two hours because of the high temperatures . Actors 's performances are first-rate . As nice acting by the great David Suchet who gives a very good Poirot , he played 70 episodes , his acting is similar to Albert Finney (Murder on the Orient Express) and Peter Ustinov : Evil under the sun (Guy Hamilton), Appointment with Death (Michael Winner) and Death on the Nile (Guy Hamilton) . Acting of the support actors are awesome with special mention for John Hannah , Elizabeth McGovern , Mark Gatiss and Cheryl Campbell as the abusive and overbearing Lady Boynton .

The movie gets a lush costume design and magnificent production design . Colorful and sunny cinematography by excellent cameraman Peter Greenhalgh . Sensitive and atmospheric musical score by Stephen McKeon . This TV movie was professionally directed by Ashley Pearce , though contains some flaws . The flick will appeal to suspense lovers and Agatha Christie-Poirot novels buffs . There is a known cinematic rendition titled ¨Appointment with the death ¨ (1988) by Michel Winner with Peter Ustinov , Carrie Fisher, Nicholas Guest , David Soul , Hayley Mills , John Terlesky , Lauren Bacall and Jenny Seagrove married to Michael Winner .
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