5 minute read
Film
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DEATH ON THE NILE
through MARCH 24
CURRENT EXHIBITS IN THE GAAC GALLERIES
works ON PAPER works ABOUT PAPER
through APRIL 13
RODNEY MARTIN: Woodland Studies
A series of b&w photographs of iconic northern Michigan.
FIND ALL THE DETAILS: GlenArborArt.org
WITH THE SUPPORT OF National Endowment for the Arts, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Amy L. Clark-Carels Family Fund, Image 360, Northwoods Hardware, Leelanau Enterprise
ARTS FESTIVAL
SUMMER 2022
AIR SUPPLY | JULY 9, 2022
If you’re anything like me, chances are that between an incredibly delayed release almost three years in the making (first, production issues; then COVID; then the cast miring themselves in controversies ranging from anti-vax sentiments to sexual misconduct) and, finally, rumors that director Kenneth Branagh demanded the film be released after 2022 Oscar voting concluded to prevent impacting the Oscar chances for his other film, Belfast, you probably wrote off Death on the Nile as dead on arrival.
But the sequel to Branagh’s star-powered yet lackluster adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express somehow manages to exceed not only his Orient Express but also our expectations.
For Death on the Nile, Branagh assembles another cavalcade of stars that includes Annette Bening, Gal Gadot, and Russell Brand for an old-fashioned murder mystery, one where the hero’s superpowers are of the mind, of nuance, of observation. Branagh returns to the role of the iconic Hercule Poirot and even gives him a backstory that is little more than a poor facsimile of Sam Mendes’ 1917 and an origin story for a mustache. But don’t let this half-hearted prologue deter you.
Once we finally, and slowly, are introduced to the film’s cast of players, things do get back on track. Moving from World War I to 1937, the audience is introduced to the glamorous heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Gadot), who has impulsively married the fiancé (Armie Hammer) of one of her best friends (relative newcomer Emma Mackey, looking like a budget Lily James, but proving herself to be much more).
With such spur of the moment nuptials, the occasion calls for a grand honeymoon party, and Poirot crosses paths with the group in Cairo when running in to his rakish friend Bouc (Tom Bateman), who is a guest on said honeymoon trip and accompanied by his widowed mother (Bening). The introduction of Poirot to the group proves fortuitous; the former friend/fiancé of the happy couple is now stalking them, and Linnet is haunted by a suspicion she is in grave danger. (Dawn French, yes an Ab Fab reunion); Linnet’s French lady’s maid (a bizarrely underused Rose Leslie); the gentleman doctor (Russell Brand) Linnet used to love; Linnet’s shady finance/lawyer, who is also a dear family friend; and the famous Blues singer Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo), whose niece/manager (Letitia Wright) is old friends with Linnet.
They all board a luxury steamer, the Karnak, and head down the Nile. It isn’t exactly a quick process to introduce all these characters and their various backstories, jealousies, grudges, and connections to one another, but it does prove a worthwhile endeavor in the end. So when the titular death on the Nile does finally occur, the stakes feel higher than in Orient Express. You’re far more emotionally involved in all of the characters and victims. And the twists and turns that follow are genuinely satisfying.
With its strange mélange of accents, I would say Death on the Nile doesn’t offer as strong or as dazzling of a cast as its predecessor (and this is regardless of Hammer, Wright, and Gadot’s various controversies). In fact, I would even say Hammer’s casting almost works to the character’s favor in this sexier than anticipated adaptation.
But what the cast lacks in razzle-dazzle, this film makes up for with its glamorous and alluring setting and stunning costumes, design, and vistas. And with its dramatic flourishes and eye-candy-cheesy CGI, Branagh leans into the glossy and grand spectacle of it all. He gives the people the enjoyable entertainment that they want, but he doesn’t give much more.
So while I wouldn’t exactly be against another Branaugh-driven outing, at this point it just feels moot. Like the retro vibe the film was going for, Death on the Nile was a pleasant and charming distraction that doesn’t exactly feel particularly relevant or necessary. It takes Agatha Christie’s story, but other than adding some diversity and other slight tweaks, doesn’t do accomplish anything all that interesting. So while this will prove quite palatable to the whodunit lover in all of us, it can’t help but make you realize the whodunit sequel really worth waiting for will be Knives Out 2!
