Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: Mathew Baynton, Morfydd Clark, Douglas Henshall, Penelope Wilton, Mark Bonnar, Tom Riley, Tamzin Outhwaite, Sinead Matthews, David Jonsson, Jon Pointing, Nimra Bucha, Kevin Mains, Veronika Klimenko, Joe Fagan, Phoebe Licorish.
Murder is easy, it’s the consequences that are difficult to digest, the murderer’s intent and reasoning challenging to the minds of those to whom such an act is deplorable, an unacceptable reminder that the human soul is capable of such finality.
Whilst Murder Is Easy is not one of Agatha Christie’s most inspiring detective novels, it has had its fair share of adaptations on screen and other media, perhaps with remarkable derision in 2009 when the narrative was seismically shifted to include one of Ms. Christie’s more famous creations, the erstwhile Miss Marple, and completely sweep away almost all logic and true Christie performance in the writing.
The 2023 fairs better in that it retains the honesty of the novel, if not some of the love, and whilst Tom Riley and Matthew Boynton display excellent confidence in portraying traits that are alien to right minded people, with the flair for espousing the dreadful science of eugenics and being comfortable with the talk of eradication, and with the wonderful calmness that David Jonsson exudes as his character is confronted by the demons of a typical English village, so it would seem that unfortunately the source material still finds a way to disappoint long term Christie fans.
Alongside those previously mentioned, it should be noted that the steady hands of Tamzin Outhwaite is, despite her lack of air time, a quality presence, as is Mark Bonnar as the vicar of the parish; and yet even with the talent on board, including the ever reliable Douglas Henshall, a growing sense of disbelief surrounding the whole affair; one not rooted in the identity of the killer, but the nature of the production, the slip ups in detail that should be carefully considered before release, and the sense that a message in the background was worth more pursuing than the sheer intellectual damage and breakdown in psychosis that is at the heart of matter.
What can be objectively described as a fairly unexceptional tale from the mother of detective fiction will arguably always have its foundations steeped in the problematic when it comes to adaption, and whilst this particular version is a cut above almost everything else offered over the decades since its first appearance in novel form, it still leaves little to glorify as an exercise of armchair detective fiction on screen.
Murder Is Easy, sometimes too easy for it be accepted as a premise for a riveting tale.
Ian D. Hall