Crooked House

In my scale of 5 star- 5 is a master piece, 2 is boring. so 3 star= 1.5 stars. It's polished with good production values but nothing to hang it on. I wanted to like it better. I didn't read the book- I think all the agatha christie movies make my expectation of the books to be flat too. The ppl who hate it, hate the director. but I have to lay the blame at the writers' feet too. some say the book was much better. Another example of good actors taking small parts when they can get them. Maybe Julian Sand, Christina Hendricks, and Gilllian Anderson felt safe in taking the role bec Glen Close & Terence Stamp were in it too. Give these ppl something to do. It just goes on and on. I couldn't care about family secrets or who killed the rich old man. I read the spoilers bec I wanted to know what was going on, And what happened at the end. But i kept falling asleep, or my mind was going blank. Remarks on Max Irons, Nepotism, Jeremy Iron's son/ the worst.

As expected in an Agatha Christie adaptation, someone poisons the patriarch of the wealthy Leonides family, leading to an investigation. There are plenty of suspects, a dysfunctional and eccentric bunch, and that's what makes this adaptation amusing. The characters are well etched, and well played by everyone. The production is good, the mystery is fairly engaging, however I prefer reading Agatha Christie books as not many adaptations capture the cosiness, the fun or attention to detail to the mystery and the characters.

Great cast and acting, nothing really happens in a rather dead flat featureless film, until the last few minutes. A shame, no real build up of characters and not very entertaining that is the point?

I watched this movie directly after reading the book. This adaptation is amazing but it strays far from the book, but this was only to make the movie more exciting which is did!

In Crooked House's defense, Agathie Christie did write her book several years before Rian Johnson's "tribute." The two films are so similar you couldn't help but compare them. Stately country mansion full of strange family members? Check. Murdered scion? Check. Everyone's a suspect? Check. Investigator called in to find the killer? Check. Twists and turns? Of course. What would be a good mystery without twists and turns? Whereas Knives Out did have some humor, Crooked House was a blunt, scene by scene retelling of Christie's story that could've been directed by anyone. It's a watchable film but not necessarily recommended.

They say no movie beats reading the original book and in this case it's again a valid point. With a book well written you can use your imagination completely, on how the characters look and what their part is in the mystery. In the movie though you don't get that same sensation. I thought Crooked House was very slow and a bit boring if I have to be honest. I would rather play a game of Cluedo than watching this movie again. It's just more entertaining. The cast wasn't bad though, but the story being so slow they couldn't make this movie better. I do like Agatha Christie's books but her movie adaptions seems not as good to me. And by the way I saw the end coming from far. I'm not sure that would have been the case with the book.

I downloaded this piece of junk and was appalled. Even Agatha Christie--the queen of cliché and cardboard characters--would've hated this flop. Written in part by hack writer Julian Fellowes, the screenplay is more leaden than Max Irons's bad acting. Shot with the touch of a double-amputee the direction is execrable. The unheralded director Gilles Paquet-Brenner is obscure for a reason. He's talent free. The other fine actors--Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson & Julian Sands--were ill-served by Paquet-Brenner. Their overacting and bizarre delivery shows that even great actors can go rancid when led by a stiff. That IMDb would feature this in a list of "8 Must-See Indie Titles for December" is further proof that the shills who run this site have no judgment and will likely * for anyone who hands them a five-er. Avoid at all costs even if you can get this loser through uTorrent. Which you can.

An excellent first film adaptation of Christie's book, structured in such a way as to create tension through the middle section of the film with various slow burning hints and clues whilst then proceeding to keep the viewer guessing during the denouement as to who actually committed the crime. Of the cast, Max Irons performs well as the enigmatic and charismatic detective whilst Stefanie Martini puts in a good show as his love interest and one of the saner members of the family. Finally, Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, Christina Hendricks and Amanda Abbington stand out particularly in usually clichéd roles that they all are able to put a new twist upon.

I enjoyed this adaptation and have watched it a couple of times now. I've read the novel several times and I think this is faithful to the original (melodramatic) story and plot. The period has been captured rather well, too, in a 'film noir' manner; the sets and locations are a feast for the eyes. Max Irons is going from strength to strength as he matures as an actor and he provides a sound central character; there is plenty of sterling support, too, from the reputable actors playing the seriously dysfunctional Leonides family members as they wrestle with the aftermath of the murder of their despotic patriarch.

I'm surprised that Julian Fellows has a credit for this screenplay as the script was littered with language that did not come into use in the UK until decades later. It's bad enough that our language is being eradicated by Americanisms in the present day but this revisionistic assault is adding insult to injury.