Weekend Watch: A Haunting In Venice, A Million Miles Away
Kenneth Branagh sees a ghostly girl and Michael Peña wants to be a rocket man
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Hercule Poirot investigates a supernatural mystery, and a real-life astronaut reaches for the stars. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
Kenneth Branagh has been on something of an Agatha Christie tear of late, adapting Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile (which I reviewed here) in the last few years. And were Nile not so delayed by the pandemic and other issues (coughArmieHammerScandalcough), it’s entirely possible we might have had another before now.
As it is, Branagh has headed to Venice for his loosest adaptation yet, he and regular scriptwriter Michael Green choosing to go further off-book than ever before, turning the author’s 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party into A Haunting In Venice.
We catch up with detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) trying to enjoy retirement in the waterlogged city. He’s not answering any calls for help on cases and instead spends his days reading and snacking on pastries.
Until, his old friend, crime writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), shows up with an intriguing mystery. If he attends a Halloween party at a palazzo owned by opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), he’ll have the chance to investigate –– and potentially debunk –– a medium that Drake has hired to contact her late daughter.
Haunting keeps a few elements of the original story – Oliver appears, for example, and the name Joyce Reynolds is here transplanted to a medium played by Michelle Yeoh. But for the most part, this is a supernatural story with its own engine.
I have to admit, I enjoyed this latest outing more than I did Nile –– the ghostly elements add something that feels fresh for Poirot, and there is 100% less time spent on the origin of his moustache.
Plus, Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos bring vivid (if dark) life to the palazzo, while Venice itself is mostly reduced to a rainy night backdrop.
It still has some of the issues of the previous movies; with such an overstuffed cast, only a few break through. Highlights this time include Fey, Yeoh and Jude Hill (who starred as a character based on Branagh’s own younger days in Belfast, and proves here that that film was no fluke). Elsewhere, everyone is game, but they’re primarily cyphers.
The solution to the central mystery is perhaps something of an anti-climax, but it’s saved by the style of the film itself. And having the freedom to do his own thing with the story is good for both Green and Branagh.
A Haunting In Venice is in UK and US cinemas now.
Image Credit: Amazon Studios
I will never become an astronaut. Even though I’m an avowed fan of space travel in both fictional and factual forms, my skillset (words not numbers: “Commander White, the air supply is shutting down!” “I’ve crafted a compelling memo about it…”) is very far from what they’re looking for when it comes to NASA crew.
Yet that doesn’t stop me from being obsessed with all things space, so you might not be surprised to learn that I was very pleased with A Million Miles Away.
A biopic of José M. Hernández, who had his own dreams of rocketing into space, it’s very much in the usual style of such films –– we follow José at different stages of his life (Michael Peña plays him for most of the running time), and certain aspects are glossed over. But it’s an inspiring, emotional story of a man who didn’t let multiple rejections stop him from achieving his ambitions.
Hernández grew up splitting his time between Mexico and California, travelling with his family to different farm worker jobs. The constant movement meant that the bright youngster saw his education begin to suffer, and an elementary school teacher named Miss Young (played in the film by Michelle Krusiec) suggested to his family that they could settle so as to give him the best chance. Wanting to encourage and support their son, the family sacrificed to help José achieve his dreams, and he became an engineer, putting him on a path to eventually make the Astronaut Candidate programme at NASA. But not before he spent 12 years applying without success.
During that time, he also met and married his wife, Adela (Rosa Salazar in the film), who had ambitions of her own and opened/ran a restaurant near the Johnson Space Centre while also being the mother of five kids.
Yet Hernández’ story is the focus, and his is a fascinating, inspiring tale. And yes, there are glimpses later in the film of his astronaut training, which as you can expect is catnip to me.
There are one or two issues in director Alejandra Márquez Abella’s film –– some of the ageing/de-ageing make-up used on the two stars is a little unconvincing, and certain moments feel rushed.
But that is in no way a reason to skip this one –– it’ll make you feel better about the state of the human race if people like José M. Hernández are part of it. And if you ever needed encouragement to keep on reaching your goals, this might be just the thing.
A Million Miles Away is on Prime Video globally now.