Disappearance at Clifton Hill - 2019 film review

I have vivid memories of my one and only trip to Niagara Falls. It was on a coach trip from the Toronto Bouchercon a few years back and although the weather was a bit iffy, the company was splendid and the Falls were magnificent. Since then I've enjoyed watching the old film Niagara and now I've also taken a look at a recent movie set around the Falls - Disappearance at Clifton Hill. 

The story begins with a family outing in rural Canada. A young girl is shocked to see a boy with a patch over one eye, who is clearly terrified. Then she witnesses his abduction. She tells the story, but nobody believes her. We then fast forward to the present. The girl is Abby, played by none other than Tuppence Middleton. Her sister is Laure (Hannah Gross). Their parents have died and a rather slimy lawyer has brokered a deal under which they sell their failing motel to a family called Lake, who own most of the little town.

Abby has gained a reputation, not least with her sister, for being a compulsive liar, so when she starts to reinvestigate the mysterious abduction, she gets little sympathy from anyone. A local conspiracy theorist called David Bell (David Cronenberg, perhaps better known as a director), seems more helpful. He is deeply suspicious of the Lakes and soon Abby discovers a connection between the boy she saw and a pair of stage magicians called the Magnificent Moulins.

The plot thickens nicely from then on. This is a well-made film and it boasts a final twist that came as a genuine surprise to me. Often these days, movie twists of that kind are rather meretricious but on the whole I think this one works well. This isn't as renowned a film as, say, Shutter Island, but I enjoyed it at least as much.

Spooks: The Greater Good - film review

I've managed somehow never to be drawn into the long-running hit TV spy show Spooks. I say 'somehow', but in fact what happened is that I missed the first couple of series, and then felt disinclined to try to catch up. So when the film released last year based on the show, rather clumsily titled Spooks: the Greater Good turned up on the schedules, I decided to watch it to see what the fuss is about.

It's often the case that, when a popular TV show is adapted for the big screen, things go awry. This is especially disappointing for those who have long been fans of the series. I wondered if the fact I'd not seen the series would be a disadvantage or, alternatively, give me the chance to assess it without preconceptions. As things turned out, I'd say it wasn't really a disadvantage not to have seen the series on TV. Did I enjoy the film? Yes, certainly.

It begins in a blaze of action as terrorist Qasim is helped to escape from custody by armed terrorists in a shoot-out. Has a mole assisted Qasim? Peter Firth, playing top spy Sir Harry Pearce, thinks so. He's the fall-guy for the disaster, and he responds by faking his own suicide. What is he up to? Among those wanting to find out are the Director General of the Secret Service, played by Tim McInnerny, and his deputy, Geraldine, played with icy calm by Jennifer Ehle. Suffice to say that I thought McInnerny's performance was a hundred times better than it was in Houdini & Doyle.

Among those who become embroiled in Pearce's cunning plans is the brilliant Tuppence Middleton, once again demonstrating her versatility as an actor. The plot complications come thick and fast, and this is not a story that has quite the relentless grip of The Night Manager,because there is less space for characterisation. But it's an enjoyable action thriller. I'd be interested to know how fans of the TV show rate it.

Trap for Cinderella - 2013 film review

Trap for Cinderella, Iain Softley's recent adaptation of a novel written by Sebastien Japrisot sixty years earlier is one of the best psychological thrillers I've seen in years. On release, it met with indifferent reviews (often from film critics who simply don't care for plot twists, it would seem), but if you like classy, convoluted plotting in a movie, and you're willing to suspend disbelief somewhat - a requirement not confined to mysteries, of course - then give this one a go. It's gripping, and very elegantly done.

A fire in a French mansion leaves one young woman dead, and another terribly disfigured. The survivor undergoes extensive reconstructive surgery, but suffers from amnesia. She's told that her name is Mickey, and that she is due shortly to inherit a fortune, on her 21st birthday. Soon she meets an old boyfriend, and discovers a diary written by her dead friend, Do. As she reads the diary, her memory starts to return...

This is a complex story centring upon the intimate friendship between Mickey and Do. They were childhood friends, but a crisis separated them for years. When they meet again, they become very close, but it soon becomes apparent that Do's devotion to Mickey has its unhealthy side. What happened in the past, and can Mickey trust those who claim to have her best interests at heart.

Mickey is played by the brilliant Tuppence Middleton, who is rapidly become one of the actors I most enjoy watching. Do is equally well played by Alexandra Roach, while the cast also includes Aneurin Barnard and Frances De La Tour. There are a couple of plot elements which one can quibble about - concerning Do's psychology, and the content of the crucial will - but overall, the story moves so briskly and so entertainingly that these didn't bother me much. Japrisot is a very entertaining writer, and I think he'd have been well satisfied with this adaptation. (The book was filmed in  France back n the 60s, incidentally, and Jean Anouilh was one of the scriptwriters.)

The Lady Vanishes - BBC film review

The Lady Vanishes is one of Alfred Hitchcock's enduringly popular movies, and for good reason. The performances are excellent and the story is hugely entertaining. A remake some years ago starring Cybill Shepherd was reviewed so negatively that I never summoned up the enthusiasm to watch it. However, I was encouraged to watch tonight's new version for the BBC, not just because the cast included Keeley Hawes,but also because the screenplay was said to focus on the source material for the original film, rather than the screenplay for it.

The source was The Wheel Spins, by Ethel Lina White, who was a highly successful writer of the Golden Age, and who came from Abergavenny. I was interested to find, when I visited the town a couple of years back for a CWA conference, that even though not a great deal is widely known about the detail of her life, she is still remembered there. And so she should be. Her novels of psychological suspense, focusing on women in jeopardy, are very well crafted. I'd like to find out more about her.

The ditzy young socialite,Iris Carr, originally played by Margaret Lockwood, was here played by Tuppence Middleton. Tuppence, yes, a name straight out of Agatha Christie. And she would make a good Tuppence Beresford, I'm sure. Her performance was feisty and fun, a smart portrayal of a selfish young woman who discovers a sense of purpose in life when a gossipy woman she meets on a train disappears and everyone else denies she ever existed.

It's quite a risk to re-make a Hitchcock classic, and only worth doing if you're going to do it really well, and add something fresh. That was the test I set for the BBC version - and it passed with flying colours. The original has some wonderfully witty lines, and I do love the cricket fans Charters and Caldicott, who didn't feature in the book or in this version, although they did feature in a so-so TV spin-off in the 80s. But despite a lack of humour in the script, the story was told with pace and panache, and the result was a thoroughly enjoyable piece of light entertainment. One of the more worthwhile remakes that I've seen in recent years.