risarah28
For major fans of the book (such as I), you will be extremely disappointed in the movie. I watched it for 15 minutes and was done. I was hoping to see an adventure film set in the early 1920's with Anne being portrayed as a young, charming, and clever girl on her first adventure who encounters romance and thrills. The movie is nothing like this. It is set in late eighties/early nineties and every detail from the book has been thoroughly twisted and overdone. I am truly disappointed. It is true that my opinion stems largely from the fact that The Man In The Brown Suit is my favorite book of all time, and I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie. When I saw this DVD in the library, I was absolutely shocked that it existed and could not wait to go home and find the time to watch it. For those of you who have not read the book...I'm at a loss for words due to my own biased opinion except to say the acting is cheesy and there is nothing quaint or cute about this film at all.
smortslori
Not all Agatha Christie movies are written true to form of her books. Of course, what movie is really? This is a charming adventure with a young woman tired of her humdrum life looking for more excitement. She soon finds it with a romance and a mystery. The gorgeous leading man and the cute leading lady (Stephanie Zimbalist) make for a cute couple. Had me guessing things until the very end the first time I saw this, and I have a taped copy (wish I had the original now). Interesting not to have the typical Miss Marple or Hercules Poirot characters and yet lends one to wanting to read the book. Tony Randall was quite funny with his different characters. I believe this is well-worth the viewing.
skottyrock
MOST PROBABLY CONTAINS *SPOILERS*STARRING Stephanie Zimbalist, Edward Woodward, Tony Randall, Rue McClanahan, Ken Howard, Simon Dutton, Nickolas Grace, María CasalI must start by saying that I have loved Agatha Christie's works for as long as I can remember. As a teenager I spent ages (and a berluddy fortune) tracking down her books at book exchanges and book fairs, and was always there with a tape in the VCR to record any Agatha Christie movie that came on TV.Every Christie-phile worth their weight in doughnuts absolutely loves the Christie film classics: You know, Murder on the Orient Express; Death on the Nile; The Mirror Crack'd; Evil Under the Sun. David Suchet's Poirot series (though plodding at times) has proven very popular, as has Joan Hickson's wrinkly Miss Marple series. And there is of course an audience for the lesser Christies: The TV-movie adaptations, for example, Dead Man's Folly; Sparkling Cyanide; Murder in Three Acts; and, The Man in the Brown Suit - the subject of this review.While not the best Christie film, and by no means the most colourful, The Man in the Brown Suit makes for pretty good TV-movie fodder, with a fairly engaging plot, decent enough production values, and interesting African locales. What really makes this TV-movie watchable is the fantastic cast of actors. And, I mean, who really gives two hoots that most of them are TV Land Staples. Witness ... if you dare: Stephanie "Remington Steele" Zimbalist; Edward "The Equalizer" Woodward; Tony "The Odd Couple" Randall; Rue "The Golden Girls" McClanahan; Ken "Dynasty" Howard; Simon "The Saint" Dutton; Nickolas "Robin of Sherwood" Grace. Phew!American actress Zimbalist plays lead character Anne Beddingfield (an Englishwoman in the book, by the way) as a kind of tough, adventurous and resourceful heroine in a nod to the Indiana Jones series, and is ably supported by Suzy Blair, played by McClanahan (who doesn't seem to mind playing her Golden Girls character, Blanche - Or maybe she was forced at gunpoint to do just that??). Dutton plays man-on-the-run Harry Lucas, a handsome Brit who possesses not only some important information, but a secret hankering for some down-and-dirty time with foxy Anne. Woodward has a ball (and I do mean a ball) playing crook Sir Eustace Pedler, and Tony Randall amuses as the fumbling, bumbling, and mumbling Pedler henchman/chameleon.What's hilarious is that throughout the movie the characters keep running into each other, like, Africa's the equivalent of some small town, you know, where bumping into one's neighbors is a sure bet.And finally, no review of The Man in the Brown Suit would be complete unless it included comment on that zingy little Spanish starlet María Casal, who plays bad girl with matching bad haircut, Anita. Casal's Anita spends most of her screen time writhing around in the back of a beatup taxi staring at a scrap of paper with some ridiculous code scribbled on it, all the while beaming from ear to ear like some grinning idiot! Now that's what I call acting! Pity she gets blown away by bad guy Pedler moments later. That'll teach her not to wear her seatbelt!SEE IT OR ELSE!
istara
This film is fun, but of course does not live up to the original novel. (It's been Americanised for one thing). That said, the cast is strong, and the plot has plenty of intrigue.But read the book - it's one of Agatha's best adventure novels (as opposed to Country- House-Body-in-the-Library novels) and the mystery is pretty good too.
