WARNING - SPOILER ALERT! it's not till the end, and i have put a second warning down below so that if you want you may read my comments till that point.
i disagree with many reviewers here, so i figured my comments might be useful to some.
1 - i think geraldine mcewan makes a wonderful miss marple. joan hickson was good, yes, but i do enjoy the cheekiness and energy than mcewan adds in her portrayal. hickson always seemed like she was about to keel over at any minute.
2 - the production values on this episode - the sets and locations, costumes, the saturated colors of the film - are lovely and quite enjoyable in themselves.
3 - overall, i was amused/entertained by the slightly over-the-top acting in this episode (the other one i've seen is "a murder is announced". it was much more subtle, and very enjoyable in its own way). but, simon callow, who i generally love, completely got on my nerves. his was WAY over-the-top acting, and it was totally irritating. hamming rather than acting. for a talent like him to do that is unfortunate. oh well.
4 - but the clincher - the plot absolutely DOESN'T WORK AT ALL. the switch in plot from the book to the movie seems to have forgotten that murderers need to have a MOTIVE. argh! i haven't read the book, so i can't compare it (actually, i wish i did know what the actual plot was! i'm still trying to figure out how it actually would make SENSE...) so... to get into more detail....
**** SPOILER ****
what is the motivation for the lesbian lovers to kill ruby? i don't see any at all! if they want to run off together, they could just up and leave, no? how at *all* did ruby threaten that? i agree with another commenter that the little girl would not believe that a woman was a big deal movie director. also, all SORTS of other things are left hanging (perhaps in the book too, i dunno). how'd the murderer get into the film star's house? how'd she know nobody'd be there? the film star is totally drunk when he drags the body into the library... you even see him using the handrail in the library when leaving... hello, FINGERPRINTS? speaking of dragging bodies around, how does josie get the body out of the hotel without anyone noticing? staff etc? and how does she get the keys to that guy's car? there are just WAY, way too many things left unexplained/implausible for this to be a really satisfying murder mystery. i'm left frustrated.
oh and also, i find it unfortunate that this movie ends up showing lesbians as being crazy enough for murder. of course smart people won't draw that conclusion but the way it all works is - all of a sudden you find out they're lesbian and then - boom! that's why they killed ruby... uh, great. what a wonderful stereotype to promote.
i disagree with many reviewers here, so i figured my comments might be useful to some.
1 - i think geraldine mcewan makes a wonderful miss marple. joan hickson was good, yes, but i do enjoy the cheekiness and energy than mcewan adds in her portrayal. hickson always seemed like she was about to keel over at any minute.
2 - the production values on this episode - the sets and locations, costumes, the saturated colors of the film - are lovely and quite enjoyable in themselves.
3 - overall, i was amused/entertained by the slightly over-the-top acting in this episode (the other one i've seen is "a murder is announced". it was much more subtle, and very enjoyable in its own way). but, simon callow, who i generally love, completely got on my nerves. his was WAY over-the-top acting, and it was totally irritating. hamming rather than acting. for a talent like him to do that is unfortunate. oh well.
4 - but the clincher - the plot absolutely DOESN'T WORK AT ALL. the switch in plot from the book to the movie seems to have forgotten that murderers need to have a MOTIVE. argh! i haven't read the book, so i can't compare it (actually, i wish i did know what the actual plot was! i'm still trying to figure out how it actually would make SENSE...) so... to get into more detail....
**** SPOILER ****
what is the motivation for the lesbian lovers to kill ruby? i don't see any at all! if they want to run off together, they could just up and leave, no? how at *all* did ruby threaten that? i agree with another commenter that the little girl would not believe that a woman was a big deal movie director. also, all SORTS of other things are left hanging (perhaps in the book too, i dunno). how'd the murderer get into the film star's house? how'd she know nobody'd be there? the film star is totally drunk when he drags the body into the library... you even see him using the handrail in the library when leaving... hello, FINGERPRINTS? speaking of dragging bodies around, how does josie get the body out of the hotel without anyone noticing? staff etc? and how does she get the keys to that guy's car? there are just WAY, way too many things left unexplained/implausible for this to be a really satisfying murder mystery. i'm left frustrated.
oh and also, i find it unfortunate that this movie ends up showing lesbians as being crazy enough for murder. of course smart people won't draw that conclusion but the way it all works is - all of a sudden you find out they're lesbian and then - boom! that's why they killed ruby... uh, great. what a wonderful stereotype to promote.