Pictured here is Michelle Yeoh as Ms. Reynolds, the psychic and a driver of the plot. (Courtesy photo)
By LAURIE COKER
I first fell in love with mysteries as a child with ‘The Hardy Boys’ and ‘Nancy Drew,’ but Agatha Christie lit the fire that keeps me reading, watching and writing mysteries. It is a passion I used to share with my mom.
Director Kenneth Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green adapt (changing many aspects of the tale) Christie’s novel ‘Hallowe’en Party’ and give us ‘A Haunting in Venice,’ starring Branagh, Tina Fey, Kelly Rielly and Michelle Yeoh. From the trailers, one might assume that its genre is horror, but filmmakers stay faithful to Christie’s formulaic who-dun-it style, if not to the story’s plot. While there are some chilling aspects, ‘A Haunting in Venice’ pleases fans with twists, thrills, red herrings and Hercule Poirot.
When author Ariadne Oliver (Fey) seeks out the retired Poirot (Branagh), who cannot resist the idea of proving that a medium named Ms. Reynolds (Yeoh) is a fraud, the pair travels to Venice, where a storm is brewing and a Halloween party for local orphans is in full swing. Their host and the woman of the house, Rowena Drake (Rielly), invites Reynolds to perform a séance so she can speak to her dead daughter again. Poirot, ever the detective, agrees to participate, and the dead girl’s former fiancé, Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), joins them, along with Poirot’s bodyguard (former policeman Vitale Portfoglio) (Riccardo Scamarcio), a family caretaker Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin) and other key players. Of course, a murder (or two) occurs, and Poirot, who is nearly murdered himself, rises to the occasion and immediately starts sleuthing.
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