My girlfriend put this film on while I got on with some ironing and I was surprised to find that it was one I hadn't seen before – I had assumed that I had seen almost all of them but yet here I was. The plot is rather clumsy by way of setup as it involves a huge amount of coincidence to get everyone where they need to be; whether it be Gwenda ending up in that house from the other side of the globe or the chance meeting (and involvement) with Miss Marple herself, it is built on coincidence. It took about thirty minutes to get passed this but it manages to do it by laying on the rather supernatural suspense before Marple of course comes in with logic to set us off.
From here the film is an enjoyable little tale that brings in characters and motives and investigates them all. The limited history and routes of investigation help make the plot quite easy to follow and as such I was surprised to find that it was one of the more accessible of the BBC Marple's that I've seen. It probably "helps" that it is perhaps a little too obvious who the killer is and what their motives would have been. This wasn't a massive problem for me but I'm so used to being so far behind Marple that it was an odd feeling to be ahead of her for once! The whole film also has quite a light feel to it in stark contrast to the rather prime setting of the English village; the sea-side setting may be part of it but having a "foreigner" in the lead role of the investigation is probably a bigger influence. I don't think Gwenda was a great character but she was quite engaging and her threads allowed Marple to do more observing while we the viewers have it more spelt out for us via her. Miss Marple herself isn't in it that much but her presence is well felt and her read between the lines and tap the grapevine investigation style came over quite well. Of course I would have liked it to have been a little smarter in terms of the development and the resolution but it was quite enjoyable and it didn't hurt to be led through it rather than feeling like you had to work at it – it wasn't quite CSI, but Sleeping Murder certainly felt a lot "gentler" in terms of complexity than the normal Marple's.
Hickson is on typically good form even if the material is a bit more obvious than normal; she plays her character well – wise but not "knowing" with it. Alexander didn't convince me at first but she did work as a "normal" person following the leads with a certain amount of intrigue and innocence, she is the actor on the screen most and she did it pretty well. Treves overplays his Scottish doctor a little bit but is fine generally while Moulder-Brown is light and enjoyable.
Overall Sleeping Murder isn't a great example of the BBC Marple mainly because it is rather lively, brisk and easily understood – which is not always the case with them. Although I was a little disappointed by how accessible and easy it all was in the end, I did enjoy watching it and found it to easily hold my attention and interest me without being so complex that I stopped paying attention.
From here the film is an enjoyable little tale that brings in characters and motives and investigates them all. The limited history and routes of investigation help make the plot quite easy to follow and as such I was surprised to find that it was one of the more accessible of the BBC Marple's that I've seen. It probably "helps" that it is perhaps a little too obvious who the killer is and what their motives would have been. This wasn't a massive problem for me but I'm so used to being so far behind Marple that it was an odd feeling to be ahead of her for once! The whole film also has quite a light feel to it in stark contrast to the rather prime setting of the English village; the sea-side setting may be part of it but having a "foreigner" in the lead role of the investigation is probably a bigger influence. I don't think Gwenda was a great character but she was quite engaging and her threads allowed Marple to do more observing while we the viewers have it more spelt out for us via her. Miss Marple herself isn't in it that much but her presence is well felt and her read between the lines and tap the grapevine investigation style came over quite well. Of course I would have liked it to have been a little smarter in terms of the development and the resolution but it was quite enjoyable and it didn't hurt to be led through it rather than feeling like you had to work at it – it wasn't quite CSI, but Sleeping Murder certainly felt a lot "gentler" in terms of complexity than the normal Marple's.
Hickson is on typically good form even if the material is a bit more obvious than normal; she plays her character well – wise but not "knowing" with it. Alexander didn't convince me at first but she did work as a "normal" person following the leads with a certain amount of intrigue and innocence, she is the actor on the screen most and she did it pretty well. Treves overplays his Scottish doctor a little bit but is fine generally while Moulder-Brown is light and enjoyable.
Overall Sleeping Murder isn't a great example of the BBC Marple mainly because it is rather lively, brisk and easily understood – which is not always the case with them. Although I was a little disappointed by how accessible and easy it all was in the end, I did enjoy watching it and found it to easily hold my attention and interest me without being so complex that I stopped paying attention.