TheLittleSongbird Sad Cypress is one of my favourite Poirot episodes, along with Five Little Pigs and Peril At End House everything about this adaptation was stunning. I do admit I did cry two or three times. It is faithful to the book, apart from a slight misjudgement about the rose. The plot is quite a complex one, but it is very well constructed here. The look of Sad Cypress was absolutely exquisite- you can never go wrong with dazzling photography, splendid scenery and lovely costumes- this adaptation had all three of those things. The music was gorgeous, haunting yet tragic, and I think it was this that reduced me to tears. The script is very good, beautifully written, and does have a hint of faithfulness about it. The acting was exceptional, although he looked tired, David Suchet turned in an impeccable performance as Poirot. I do consider Suchet the definitive of the Poirots, like Jeremy Brett was the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Elizabeth Dermott Walsh was beautiful beyond words as Elinor Carlisle, just perfect for the role, and Rupert Penry Jones perfectly conveys his flawed character. Diana Quick and Phyllis Logan are fine actresses, and they were superb in their roles. The final solution was very well done, not quite as good in construction as the one in the book, but still effective. I have to say when I first saw this adaptation, I was extremely disturbed by Poirot's dream of Mary Gerrard and her decompsing face. All in all, highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox

gridoon2018 Hercule Poirot looks into the case of a woman accused for two murders: there is overwhelming evidence against her, her dislike for one of the victims - the girl who stole her fiancé's heart - is well-known, and she doesn't express any feelings of regret. Despite all that, a doctor, who is secretly in love with her, is convinced of her innocence and asks his old friend Poirot to help him prove it.Let me put it simply: the story, direction, performances, music, and set design of "Sad Cypress" are of higher quality than approximately 90% of what is available out there. Dropping the (highly entertaining, it must be said) sidekicks, changing the tone to almost completely serious, and reducing Poirot's screen time in favor of the other characters (in fact, it could be argued that the beautiful Elisabeth Dermot Walsh is the central figure here) are all bold moves, and they pay off brilliantly, in this case at least. Up to this point in the series, and without having seen "Five Little Pigs" yet, the only episodes I would rank above this one are "Wasps' Nest" and "Lord Edgeware Dies".A must-see if you love good cinema, even when it's made for TV. (***1/2)

pterron4 This movie was just shown on the Biography Channel although it was released in 2003! I agree that Suchet is 'slowing down' a bit as Poirot and I definitely do not like his current mustache! However, I don't agree with one commenter on the roles of Japp, Hastings & Ms. Lemon re: their interaction with Poirot. I personally think Ms. Lemon was in love with Poirot. Hastings was the perfect 'foil' to Poirot in that he was so very 'English' and much more relaxed to Poirot 'fussiness'! Japp is a definite 'cop' and brought the police's role into the mix full bore. Police usually take the line that the simplest reasoning is the answer so again it's a great 'foil' to Poirot's little 'gray cells' which have to ferret out the idiosyncrasies of the different characters. The movie was excellent! I knew who was going to die but the rest of it was a 'mystery' to me! I loved the ending - Suchet did a great 'dying' scene!

Ed A quite engrossing if, as usual, contrived mystery. I do agree that David Suchet is the ultimate Hercule even if he's losing much of his energy. In fact, I think that "Curtain" would be the ideal Hercule for him to do at this or a little later point.I disagree with a review that said that it was more fun with Japp, Hastings and Lemon. I thought they were brought into the earlier productions by the short hairs and not convincingly all the time.I do agree that the Suchet "Death on the Nile" was disappointing but I'd recently seen the Ustinov again (I didn't really like him in the part.) and was only too familiar with the story so I gave up early on.I thought the acting was generally good and everyone was well-cast.8 out of 10.