"A Haunting in Venice"

 ☆☆☆ 

There have been some pretty good Agatha Christie film adaptations over the years, and some pretty bad ones, and some truly awful ones (word to the wise: avoid 1985's Ordeal By Innocence at all costs), and Kenneth Branagh has made films that fall into both of the latter camps. Overwhelmed by unnecessary CGI, filled with performances that border on camp, and unhelped by overripe camera work, Branagh's first two Christie efforts were not good films.

The third time's sort of the charm, then, as Branagh returns as both director and star of A Haunting in Venice, which is an intriguing riff on one of Christie's lesser-known novels ("Hallowe'en Party") that is neither particularly faithful to or precious about the source work. It's mostly an entertaining diversion, but it sure does move like a lead brick sometimes.

Its terrible pacing is not helped by dark and murky photography, which would be appropriately moody if it weren't combined with directorial choices that mistake slow for atmospheric. As an Agatha Christie drawing-room mystery, A Haunting in Venice is filled with dialogue, narration and lots and lots and lots of flashbacks to things we can't possibly have known ... which usually are part of the fun, but this time bog the whole thing down with a dismal, glum air.

So, why in the world am I recommending A Haunting in Venice? Mostly because it's fun to see a labyrinthine mystery play out on screen, fun to see strong performers like Michelle Yeoh and Tina Fey chew up the scenery with necessary overacting, and fun to see such sumptuous production and costume design ... when you can make anything out. The whole affair is murky, both in plot and in physical appearance, but in the end as Branagh's Hercule Poirot susses out the shenanigans—this time involving one suspicious death, one outright murder, and a whole host of other nefarious deeds, all on Halloween Eve in the heart of Venice—it's one of moviegoing's core delights to see a good, old-fashioned murder mystery with a clever, I thought so! kind of conclusion.

Watching A Haunting in Venice takes some effort, but it's worth the extra work.

Viewed Sept. 17, 2023 — AMC Burbank 6

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