Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Leofwine_draca THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION is another dead-headed drama from the BBC, who seem to have lost the plot when adapting classic fiction for the screen. This one's a two-parter version of the Agatha Christie short story, featuring the acceptable Toby Jones as a lawyer who takes on the case of a young man accused of murdering his female employer. It's a dingy and dismal-looking production, subdued throughout, with poor lighting and mumbled dialogue.Even worse, the performances are nothing to write home about, and that includes Kim Cattrall who seems to be channelling SEX AND THE CITY in her early scenes. Jones is the only one who comes out of this with his reputation intact, and even he's been better elsewhere. The choicest dramatic parts of the story feel rushed through and the emotion rings hollow, particularly at the climax which veers into melodrama.

Fiona Brone Take seasoned actors. Add pompous directions. No grace. No charm. No drama. Andrea Roseborough as the guilty perjurer, let a wonderful opportunity to act from the interior and caused a dead space in the film. Such heavy handed directions weighed the whole series into a muffled hazy mess. Oh what stunning scenes could have been in really tight professional hands.

bob the moo Although difficult, I approached this BBC version of the story by trying to put the Billy Wilder one as far from my mind as possible. Of course that is not easy, and it is obvious from the get-go that this version is much different from the 1950's film of the same name. The way it comes through is very much in the grittiness and darkness of this version; there is no comedy lawyer, no light tone to draw you in – from the start it is a sordid relationship, a dirty piece of rough, stinking jail cells, and a lawyer servicing deadbeats for minimum wage. To be fair, maybe this is what it took to shake off the Wilder memory, because it is very dark throughout.In some ways this is a bad thing, but not many. The strength of this approach becomes clearer as the second part plays out (and this does play better with them back-to-back). The dark tone of everything is paid off with a tremendously impacting ending which not only hits the main mystery, but gives revelation and resolution to the main character too (okay based on an absurd coincidence, but I forgave it that). This had the added advantage of giving something for the viewer who already thought they knew it all, as well as justifying how dark everything had been up until that point. And it had been dark. Indeed, the first episode was almost tiresomely so – I found it to be a real drag as everything seemed aimed at showing how awful everything was. Like I said, this is justified in the end, but I still think it was laid on a bit heavy.In all areas this is the case, but the cinematography is the main one; it looks so murky to the point where it feels like the DOP slapped on an Instagram filter. It felt so heavy handed in this way that it did turn me off a little – and it seemed to highlight how hard everything else was trying to be down and dirty too. Jones' performance is the same in some ways; it works in the entirety, but for a while he feels like he is just playing to the lowest point in a deliberate way. He is still very good though, and the rest of the cast match him, with good turns from Riseborough, Howle, Cattrall, and Dolan (who has the darkest moments with her "not today thank you" denials). As a fan of Utopia, Ready was a surprise find in a small role.Overall this version initially seems to be overcompensating with its darkness at first, but in the end it is more than justified and works really well, even if it makes that first hour a bit harder to get through than it needed to be.

vicstevinson This version of Agatha Christie's WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION shakes off what can often be goofy about Christie's stories and treats the characters as fully-formed individuals in an historic setting. It's an impressive effort with a shocking cast who inhabit their characters.This is awards season in the U.S. and studios trot out their best efforts in a last minute bid to garner accolades. Were this a feature film, it would surpass many mega-budget films.Director Julian Jarrold -- THE CROWN (2016), BECOMING JANE (2007) and KINKY BOOTS (2005) -- utilizes the strong talent assembled and tells an intriguing story of characters and conflict.Billy Howle as the accused is convincing, constantly eye-catching, fully immersed and impressive. I've seen him in several other projects, including the miniseries GLUE, and he bares great vulnerability on screen, and it's believable.Toby Jones is reliable at being superior and nuanced, he is a huge asset to this series.Andrea Riseborough is enigmatic and surprising. I am accustomed to seeing her in contemporary dramas, and she delivers this character like placid waters with a shark circling beneath, ready to emerge and strike.This version is so satisfying and memorable, I'm almost dreading the big screen, and likely big budget, version coming from Ben Affleck in 2018. His Oscar-bait 2016 film LIVE BY NIGHT shows a love for period pulp, but an inability to stitch it together. This version of WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION should be the standard against which his is judged.