Movie Review Monday

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

The pickings for movies to rent were pretty slim this weekend—especially for family-friendly films. There were several horror films I wanted to watch, but I wanted my kids to sleep for the next week. We dug deep into the movie list to find something that appealed to everyone. Murder on the Orient Express was the winner.

It’s going to be really hard to talk about this film and not give anything away. Since it’s a murder mystery, every detail is important and a potential spoiler for the ending. I’ll do my best…

When we watched the trailer for the film, it reminded us of the movie Clue. We thought it was going to be similar—perhaps without the humor—and as far as being a murder mystery, it was. However, that is where the similarities ended.

Murder on the Orient Express needed to have been structured differently. As it was, it was confusing as to what the focus of the film should be. Was it the detective or the story behind the murder? Personally, I thought the story behind the murder was fascinating and should have overarched the entire film. It would have made things make more sense.

The film has a star-studded cast, and they do a fine job. It is 114 minutes long but feels about twice that length. There’s very little action and a lot of talking. My youngest, who is 9, gave up on the movie less than half way through. It didn’t hold his interest. My oldest stuck with it and enjoyed it. I thought it was meh. My spouse didn’t like it. Stylistically, the shots in the film were beautiful. But those couldn’t keep the film interesting.

Murder on the Orient Express got us through movie night. Has anyone else watched this movie? What were your thoughts?
Pembroke Sinclair's books on Goodreads
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