Agatha

1979

Drama / Mystery / Thriller

9
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 67% · 15 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 52% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.2/10 10 3883 3.9K

journalist husband wife relationship england historical figure disappearance spa

Plot summary

England, 1926. An American journalist looks for mystery writer Agatha Christie when she suddenly disappears without explanation, leaving no trace.

Director

Michael Apted Photo
Michael Apted

Top cast

Timothy Dalton Photo
Timothy Dalton as Archie Christie
Dustin Hoffman Photo
Dustin Hoffman as Wally Stanton
Vanessa Redgrave Photo
Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha Christie
Timothy West Photo
Timothy West as Kenward
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
900.16 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 5
1.63 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 7

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Filmtribute 7 / 10

Imaginative tale of the true Agatha Christie mystery

This quirky tale of Dame Agatha Christie's eleven-day disappearance in December1926 is a speculative account of the mystery, combining a romantic interlude, suicide attempt and desperate race to avert the loss of the world's most popular `Queen of Crime'. The film is not exactly in the style of a Christie plot or typical of one, as there are none of the trademark multiple corpses that usually litter her storylines.With her marriage on the rocks after being asked for a divorce, following closely upon the death of her mother, Agatha Christie seeks refuge from her coldly indifferent husband (a very apt Timothy Dalton), in the North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate. With the whole country looking for her, Dustin Hoffman is the American reporter, writing for an English paper, who finds, and then seeks to help, her. The difference in stature between the leading protagonists makes for an amusingly incongruous sight on the dance floor, and wisely the invitation to dance the Charleston together is declined. Although Dustin Hoffman's strident journalist strikes a jarring note, Vanessa Redgrave sensitively displays a troubled, if rather elegant, Agatha Christie. Helen Morse (Picnic at Hanging Rock; Caddie) is delightful as Evelyn Crawley who befriends Agatha, and is very discriminating in her choice of men, making an interesting observation on the unrealistic expectation (by both sexes) of men's fidelity, when she sagely states `Hardly seems worth it. Men change so, that's why choosing is important. Well we can't just let things happen to us.' The fine talents of Timothy West are also involved as the diligent deputy chief constable who withstands Colonel Christie's attempts to quash the hunt for his wife.When, as expected, her husband's mistress also arrives in Harrogate, Agatha, who had been using her surname as a pseudonym whilst unconvincingly trying to pass herself off as a widow recently returned from South Africa, begins to plot an elaborate revenge. A large part of the film is given to scene setting with nice observations of English class snobbery and a time past. The final part of the film then changes gear from its languorous pace and moves into thriller mode with a race against time.A fine sense of period detail and Vittorio Storaro's beautifully crafted cinematography enhance this film, with its gentle evocation of the 1920's gentility taking the spa waters for the relief of their multifarious ailments. The famed Victorian architecture borrows from Bath as well as Harrogate, along with York's railway station, and the Old Swan Hotel and Royal Baths are given full promotional treatment. Although Agatha Christie returned to her husband her marriage finally ended two years later.In the UK video copies are available through Blackstar and Amazon.
Reviewed by JasparLamarCrabb 7 / 10

Ingenious

Reviewed by SnoopyStyle 5 / 10

premise has so many different possibilities

It's a famous real life case. Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days in December 1926. For some, she never explained it convincingly and this is a fictional account of those days. Col. Archibald Christie (Timothy Dalton) asks his wife Agatha Christie (Vanessa Redgrave) for a divorce so that he can marry his secretary Nancy Neele. Agatha is under tremendous stress and desperate to keep her husband. When American reporter Wally Stanton (Dustin Hoffman) arrives at her doors for a scheduled interview, the colonel sends him away. Agatha's abandoned car is later found and the search is on.The fictionalization gives the scriptwriter a blank slate. It could have gone a million different ways from the outlandish to the poignant. This doesn't do much of anything and that is the most disappointing aspect. I don't care about Stanton or the Colonel or the search. I would love to follow only Agatha but she just spends her time at a spa. It's probably the least intriguing destination although it's fun to have her do research during her stay. I don't find her budding relationship with Stanton based on mutual lies that compelling. Despite the great acting power available, it's not until well into the second half before something interesting happens.
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