Artivels Undescribable Perfection

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

grantss Bobby Attfield is walking along a cliff top when he spies a body at the foot of the cliff. He rushes down to the man, whose dying words are "Why didn't they ask Evans?". He is convinced that something nefarious has just occurred and his suspicions are heightened when he misses the man's inquest, due to being sent the incorrect time and location for the inquest. In his corner is Frankie Derwent and an old friend of the family, Miss Marple.Started well. The murder was intriguing and the relationship between Bobby and Frankie, solidly played by Sean Biggerstaff and Georgia Moffett, was a great sub-plot. However, the mystery seemed to get overly complex, simply for complexity's sake, after a point and the climax, and back-story, is quite far-fetched. Not all bad, but could have been so much better.Some big names in the supporting cast but they aren't all used well. Natalie Dormer is fine in her role but Warren Clarke overdoes the alpha male routine, resulting in him shouting almost all his lines. Rik Mayall is wasted in his part, and doesn't have much screen time anyway. Hannah Murray is incredibly irritating.

Meera Lyons Im a fan of Christie books and normally the TV adaptations are quite good, but this is not. The cast is good- I really like McKenzie and you've got some good names there (Natalie Dormer, Samantha Bond, Rik Mayall) but none of them can salvage this mess. Miss Marples hardly in it at the beginning and it focuses more on posh Lady Frankie who's accent 'oh pongo... Yes... Lady Derwent you know' and constant belief she knows everything got on my nerves. The relationship between the two young main characters was not the best in a Christie adaptation- Frankies seemed to treat Bobby often with childish cruelty rather than with chemistry. The ending itself was completely ridiculous, with the murderers constantly pausing to allow Miss Marples narrative rather than actually murdering the person like they had ample opportunity to do, which was clearly forced and unrealistic. And then the two orphaned murderers- one with a sad tale of being forced to 'entertain soldiers' in China- were 'murdered' themselves. The ending was silly and felt unfinished.By all means watch, but be prepared for a rather disappointing end to an hour and a half.

blanche-2 Since it's been so many years since I've read any of the Agatha Christie books - and I read them all - I have to admit I'm enjoying these various mystery series featuring the various Miss Marples. I like Julia McKenzie very much; she is very close to the Miss Marple of the books."Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" is actually not a Miss Marple story, but since the series runs roughshod over the Christie books, why not just throw some of her other characters in as well? The title of the book actually came from a conversation Ms. Christie overheard coming out of a movie theater, and she built a whole story around it. It wasn't this precise story, however.Jane Marple is paying a visit to her friend Marjorie. Marjorie's son recently found a dead body whose last words were the story's title. He's eventually identified as a Mr. Pritchard. Bobby, Marjorie's son, is asked to go to the inquest, but upon arrival, there is no inquest there. Someone has tried to keep him away from the real one.He and his pretty female friend, Frankie, decide to investigate on their own. They find out the man had a connection to the Savage Family, and Frankie crashes her car outside of the family castle and stays there to recover. The Savages are a dysfunctional bunch. The patriarch of the family, not well liked, is recently dead. Frankie is busy nosing around, trying to find out if there is an Evans, when both Miss Marple and Bobbie (disguised as a chauffeur) show up. It's quite a crowd. And Evans isn't who they think.The production values of all these films are lush, with beautiful scenery, music, and '50s clothing. I do wish they set these films in the '30s, where they belong. The acting is very good, and despite the tinkering, this still manages to be an intriguing story, with the exception of the ending. Absolutely ridiculous. Be prepared for a big letdown.

hamnh It has taken me a long time to bite down the horrid re-writes of Agatha Christie's books. This series has done many hatchet jobs and made her books into garish, horrible episodes. However, I've accepted this and focused mainly on the visuals and the acting, not the story.With that in mind, I actually enjoyed "Why Didn't They Ask Evans." Yes, there are many issues like the first 30 minutes barely showing Miss Marple at all, and the story re-writes. But that was done to Geraldine McEwan in "Bertrams Hotel", with a created hotel maid summing up the crime. Yes, I have the book and it wasn't a Marple story, but neither were many done in the first three seasons.I do enjoy Julia McKenzie in this role and think she is almost as good as Joan Hickson, who did a superb job. The young actors sleuthing the crime with her were also very good. They kept the actual ending of who was "Evans." The visuals of the English countryside were stunning! And they kept the background music appropriate.