Brake: movie review

Brake is an unusual film from last year, directed by Gabe Torres and starring Stephen Dorff, neither of whom I'm familiar with. It's a modern film, in style and plot-line, but it raises a question about writing that is familiar whether we consider prose, television or film. In fact, a question that lingered in my mind in relation to a recent episode of Agatha Christie's Marple, Greenshaw's Folly.

The issue is this. When an idea for a story occurs to a writer, an early question is whether it will make a full-length novel or a short story, a short television programme or something longer, a series perhaps. Or a short movie as opposed to a full-length feature film. The dilemma for the writer is that one doesn't want to "waste" a great idea on a small scale form. But on the other hand, stretching out an idea beyond its natural limits can ruin everything. Greenshaw's Folly was a two-hour show based on a short story. The screenplay writer added in elements from a second Agatha Christie story to make the episode work, and (just about) got away with it.

Brake involves an American secret service agent called Jeremy (Dorff), who wakes up to find himself encased in a transparent box. It turns out that he is locked in the boot of a car, although conveniently his captors have provided him with a telephone. Their plan is to torture him to make him reveal the whereabouts of the President's secret bunker.Almost all the movie takes place in this confined setting, quite a test of acting skill as well of the writer's imagination. Then we are supplied with a double twist ending.

I enjoyed the film, but felt that it was a good example of an idea stretched beyond its natural length. I suppose a movie of sixty minutes wouldn't have been commercial enough, but I'm afraid the limited nature of the scenario became a bit wearing, even though Dorff did a good job with his role. And as a result,there was too much time for the audience to feel as trapped as poor old Jeremy. And too much time to ponder the gaps in the plot as well. A pity.

Agatha Christie's Marple: Greenshaw's Folly - ITV review

Agatha Christie's Marple continued tonight with Greenshaw's Folly. This title may be unfamiliar to many readers. In fact, "Greenshaw's Folly" is a short story, and the screenplay, by Tim Whitnall, welded plot elements from that story with some from another called "The Thumb Mark of St Peter". This might seem like a recipe for a rather disjointed show, but it began well, I thought, before becoming bogged down in excessive convolutions.

Julia Mackenzie held the story together. She may not be Joan Hickson, but she is more akin to my idea of Miss Marple than, say, Margaret Rutherford or Geraldine McEwan. She has identified the strength in Jane Marple's character, a combination of inquisitiveness and a determination not to be rebuffed, coupled with a firm moral sense and a genuine compassion. I tend to think that Christie would have approved her portrayal of the sage of St Mary Mead.

Miss Marple finds a position for a young woman, played by Kimberley Nixon, who seeks her help, but life at her new home, Greenshaw's Folly, proves far from straightforward, and before long the butler is found dead. Miss Marple crosses swords with a detective played by the always enjoyable John Gordon Snclair, and the usual excellent cast included such notables as Fiona Shaw, Julia Sawalha, Joanna David and Judy Parfitt.

I found watching the show a relaxing way to build up to Publication Day (in the UK, at any rate) of The Frozen Shroud.  This is not an event likely to stop traffic anywhere, but it's a book that I'm very glad to have written. Tomorrow I'll talk about that eternally tense subject for a writer - the experience of waiting for reviews of one's latest effort. Even Agatha Christie, I suspect, must have been a bit nervous about how people would react to her latest book, and I'm no different.