What is it? The Witness for the Prosecution, 2 hours on one disc from Acorn Media
How much? $34.99
When? Now
That sounds like a legal drama. It is. It's a bit of a hybrid: part courtroom drama, part murder mystery, part film noir.
Emily French (Kim Cattrall), a wealthy, glamorous widow, is found brutally murdered in her home. Her devoted maid, Janet McIntyre (Monica Dolan), insists that the murderer was Leonard Vole (Billy Howle), a penniless young man who was being "kept" by French. Vole, however, insists that he was at home.
It's up to Vole's solicitor, John Mayhew (Toby Jones), to sort things out and come up with a successful defense to keep Vole from the gallows. The case is a potential boon for the down-on-his-luck Mayhew. But it will not be easy. McIntyre claims she saw Vole leaving the house right before she discovered the body.
Then there's Vole's mistress Romaine (Andrea Riseborough), a world-weary Austrian refugee who may be Vole's alibi but whose attitude toward the case can best be described as odd.
Then a witness comes forward.
How is it? Eerie, brooding, disturbing.
Based on an Agatha Christie short story, it's got more than one of her ingenious story twists and it is certainly well-acted and well-made. It is the sort of story that gets under your skin.
But those who like the "cozier" type of English murder mystery should be warned that this is definitely not light entertainment.
Is it faithful to the original? The original what? The short story? Play? Film from 1957? The story has had several incarnations.
It's not 100-percent faithful to any, but its main source is the short story. Writer Sarah Phelps went back to Christie's source material, restoring the original time period (1920s), certain character touches and situations. That said, the story and characters are expanded quite a bit to turn 20 pages into a 2-hour movie so it's not surprising that a good bit of license was taken in the process.
Those primarily familiar with the classic movie (based primarily on Christie's play adaptation) will notice quite a few major differences.
Any extras? There's a rather extensive collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes covering topics including filming locations, the writing process and the impact of Christie's writing. They're of varying lengths, but provide some great insights.
New this week: The 4400, complete series; Daniel Boone, Season 5; Rugrats, Seasons 1-2; Vega$, complete series.
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Style on 04/30/2017