Crooked House

Agatha Christie considered Crooked House (1949) to be her favorite novel. Perhaps because she defended the ending against the publishers' assumptions. In any case, the material is also interesting for the audience because the filmmakers don't use it much. Here we have the opportunity to encounter a relatively new and interesting substance; moreover, the cast is dominated by Glenn Close and Gillian Anderson outside their usual mannerisms. And while I prefer the pre-war Christie in many ways, I certainly don't consider this a loss. Yet if only the filmmakers could have stuck more to the aesthetics of the 40s, given that the 50s are in fact somewhat different. (06/16/2022)

This film has quite a large cast of interesting actors, which led to one of the least interesting Agatha Christie adaptations ever made. It's a bit sad, but even though the film tries to achieve some atmosphere here and there, it just doesn't work and it's not worth it. The plot may have been good in the book, but it wasn't developed well here. (02/12/2018)

The unexpected denouement of an intricate criminal case says a lot about why Agatha Christie was, and still remains, the uncrowned queen of crime fiction. In addition, Crooked House has a stellar cast, led by Glenn Close and Gillian Anderson. It's just a shame that the plot drags on and on, which doesn't help the otherwise well-crafted atmosphere of growing tension and suspicion in the country estate. (65%) (08/22/2021)

For those little bastards, a shotgun won't be enough. Moles, snakes, and all sorts of other pests overrun the estate, where, according to Agatha Christie’s conventions, everyone has a motive to kill, including the detective. In the first round of interrogations, the characters don’t make much of an impression, and in the second round, things don’t progress, so aside from the rock 'n' roll setting, the most interesting parts are probably the “group” scenes (the harmonious joint dinner, the reading of the will). The finale was supposed to be intense, but who will take care of those moles now? Jeremy’s popularity doesn’t smooth over my view of Max Irons's performance. (04/22/2024)

I was really looking forward to this film but was somewhat disappointed with the result. It wasn't bad, I just expect more of a film adaptation of a book by Agatha Christie. The story seemed rather mediocre. Only the ending stood out - it was excellent. Concerning the acting performances, a special mention goes to Christina Hendricks and Glenn Close who entertained me the most. (02/01/2018)