The plot of One, Two, Buckle my Shoe is, as all the other reviews point out is dazzling, but nevertheless a good puzzle. Poirot, Japp, all our favorite characters, or better said: the actors playing them, do a wonderful job in this story.
But the choices what and how to film this story reveal way to early (after 20 minutes!) who must be the murderer or part of the murderous team.
SPOILER: The mystery relies for a great deal on disguises and impersonations. So if one character impersonates another you have to be careful how and what you film. And therein this adaptation falls short due to three more or less unfortunate choices:
1. The length of filming the characters: In this episode both versions of the same character (the real character and the one impersonating) are shown for a quite extensive amount of time. That means our skills to recognize differences between faces is alarmed way to soon.
2. The acting of the impersonating actor is rather over the top: you immediately notice less authentic behavior in comparison of the actor playing real character
3. Everyone who knows Agatha Christie by heart knows that the Queen of Crime loves impersonations as part of many murder plots. So if you want to hide an impersonation from the viewer, you need to hide it very good. In this film all the other characters are quite plain. So the impersonation is the only outspoken character with very distinctive traits compared tot the other characters. That rings an immediate alarm bell. And SECOND SPOILER: when another character with distinctive physical traits appears -who only seems to serve a very small part in the story- one immediately wonders: is that the same impersonator? Which of course, proves to be the case. Better is would have been, to make the other characters more over the top as well. If you want to hide a black sheep, don't hide it in a white flock, but a black one.
Impersonations are tricky to film. I'll give you that, but then you need to choose what to film and how to film it very carefully. Otherwise the plot is quite given away from the beginning. Nevertheless a good episode. Made with care. Still a lot to puzzle after you discover the impersonation. And also an episodes that shows how difficult it is to film a plot with impersonations.
But the choices what and how to film this story reveal way to early (after 20 minutes!) who must be the murderer or part of the murderous team.
SPOILER: The mystery relies for a great deal on disguises and impersonations. So if one character impersonates another you have to be careful how and what you film. And therein this adaptation falls short due to three more or less unfortunate choices:
1. The length of filming the characters: In this episode both versions of the same character (the real character and the one impersonating) are shown for a quite extensive amount of time. That means our skills to recognize differences between faces is alarmed way to soon.
2. The acting of the impersonating actor is rather over the top: you immediately notice less authentic behavior in comparison of the actor playing real character
3. Everyone who knows Agatha Christie by heart knows that the Queen of Crime loves impersonations as part of many murder plots. So if you want to hide an impersonation from the viewer, you need to hide it very good. In this film all the other characters are quite plain. So the impersonation is the only outspoken character with very distinctive traits compared tot the other characters. That rings an immediate alarm bell. And SECOND SPOILER: when another character with distinctive physical traits appears -who only seems to serve a very small part in the story- one immediately wonders: is that the same impersonator? Which of course, proves to be the case. Better is would have been, to make the other characters more over the top as well. If you want to hide a black sheep, don't hide it in a white flock, but a black one.
Impersonations are tricky to film. I'll give you that, but then you need to choose what to film and how to film it very carefully. Otherwise the plot is quite given away from the beginning. Nevertheless a good episode. Made with care. Still a lot to puzzle after you discover the impersonation. And also an episodes that shows how difficult it is to film a plot with impersonations.