Its not terrible, but something's wrong with this ambitious production - probably more than one thing - but I can't put my finger on it. They seem to be trying for a number of things that never quite work. Its technically well-done, but seems peculiarly lifeless, and the perfectly competent actors come off in a rather cardboard way. I suspect that it was "filmed" using hi-def digital video, and there's something about this new process that's tricky to get right when the subject is a period-piece, or something moody, because you can get hyper-realism that works against the story. This needs a slightly dreamy, gauzy, stylized quality that isn't there. It reminds me of Marlene Dietrich's comment about the transition from black-and-white to color film, that "the mystery is gone".
Review of Death on the Nile
