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Very disappointing...

A Masterpiece!

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is definitely one of the best, if not the best, adaptation of a Christie story, "Five Little Pigs," and certainly a top Christie story in itself.A young woman, Lucy Crale, comes to see Poirot to ask for help in clearing her mother's name. Fourteen years earlier, Caroline Crale was hanged for the murder of her husband, an artist, Amyas Crale. Lucy promises that even if it turns out that her mother committed the murder, she will accept it, but she wants the whole truth.Poirot then visits the five people who were present when the murder took place: Amyas' best friend, Philip Blake, a visitor at the Crale home when the murder happened; Philip's brother Meredith, from whom it is suspected that Caroline stole the poison used to kill Amyas; Elsa Greer, Amyas' lover and whose portrait he was painting; Caroline's half-sister, Angela, who is sure her sister was innocent; and Miss Williams, Lucy's governess. After hearing each story, Poirot knows the truth and reunites all of them to make the announcement.The story unfolds neatly, and at the end, Poirot keeps you guessing. The flashbacks are beautifully, dreamily photographed, and the locations are lovely, as is the period atmosphere. The way the flashbacks were filmed is reminiscent of the flashback scenes in the feature film, "Murder on the Orient Express." The acting is superb, with David Suchet perfect as usual, and he's surrounded by some top talent, including Rachel Stirling, the brilliant Toby Stephens (he comes by his talent honestly, being the son of Robert Stephens and Maggie Smith!), Gemma Jones, and Patrick Malahide, Top drawer - don't miss it.

Unlike some of the adaptations of Christie' s Poirot, this was very true to the novel. There were a few melodramatic moments in this production that were not true to the novel but they were minor.This is one of the Christie novels where the characterizations were at the heart of the tale. The close-up of all the major characters showed not only how much they suffered from the events of the past but how hollow they had become. It seemed, even in death, the husband and wife were more dynamic than those who orbited around them.The acting was fabulous and Suchet' s Poirot showed subtlety and charm and happily, few of the affectation s he sometimes employed with his quarry and I think Rachael Stirling,as Caroline Crayle was first among equals.This show affected me greatly and won't soon be forgotten.

I'm quite opinionated when it comes to Agatha Christie's books-turned-movies, but this one was simply great (ignoring a minute comparison with the book).I liked pretty much everything, from the actors, and I LOVED Rachael Stirling's performance as Caroline Crale, to the directing filled with flashbacks. Everything was so tense that you could even feel the powerful emotions and feelings the characters were going through. You could even feel sorry for the murderer in the end, as you were made to understand exactly what he was going through. Once again, I have to say that the acting was top quality.One of my favourite episodes!

Out of all the Agatha Christie stories I've seen or read so far, "Five Little Pigs" is one of my favorites. This search for the truth about past events through a maze of (sometimes) conflicting flashbacks and viewpoints anticipates in many ways such later films as "Rashomon", "Basic", and even the very recent "Vantage Point" (2008). This adaptation, although artistically made (one transition shot in particular, from the golden-tinted past to the grey-toned present, is a real marvel), is weakened by a crucial bit of miscasting: Julie Cox as Elsa Greer. Not only is Cox too old for the role (she was 30 when this was made; Elsa is supposed to be a fresh, irresponsible teenage girl), but she is also far less attractive than Rachael Stirling who plays Caroline Crale, making it hard for the viewer to believe that her husband Amyas could be seduced by Elsa even temporarily, because Caroline beats her in beauty AND in youth (Rachael was 26 at the time), not to mention character. Considering the long history of fine casting in the "Poirot" series, this casting error is almost inexplicable. The other weak spot of the movie is the pointless turning of a supporting character from a straight to a gay man. But if you can overlook these 2 points, "Five Little Pigs" is a fine little mystery. (***)