Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This is definitely one of the best, if not the best, adaptation of a Christie story, "Five Little Pigs," and certainly a top Christie story in itself.A young woman, Lucy Crale, comes to see Poirot to ask for help in clearing her mother's name. Fourteen years earlier, Caroline Crale was hanged for the murder of her husband, an artist, Amyas Crale. Lucy promises that even if it turns out that her mother committed the murder, she will accept it, but she wants the whole truth.Poirot then visits the five people who were present when the murder took place: Amyas' best friend, Philip Blake, a visitor at the Crale home when the murder happened; Philip's brother Meredith, from whom it is suspected that Caroline stole the poison used to kill Amyas; Elsa Greer, Amyas' lover and whose portrait he was painting; Caroline's half-sister, Angela, who is sure her sister was innocent; and Miss Williams, Lucy's governess. After hearing each story, Poirot knows the truth and reunites all of them to make the announcement.The story unfolds neatly, and at the end, Poirot keeps you guessing. The flashbacks are beautifully, dreamily photographed, and the locations are lovely, as is the period atmosphere. The way the flashbacks were filmed is reminiscent of the flashback scenes in the feature film, "Murder on the Orient Express." The acting is superb, with David Suchet perfect as usual, and he's surrounded by some top talent, including Rachel Stirling, the brilliant Toby Stephens (he comes by his talent honestly, being the son of Robert Stephens and Maggie Smith!), Gemma Jones, and Patrick Malahide, Top drawer - don't miss it.

Unlike some of the adaptations of Christie' s Poirot, this was very true to the novel. There were a few melodramatic moments in this production that were not true to the novel but they were minor.This is one of the Christie novels where the characterizations were at the heart of the tale. The close-up of all the major characters showed not only how much they suffered from the events of the past but how hollow they had become. It seemed, even in death, the husband and wife were more dynamic than those who orbited around them.The acting was fabulous and Suchet' s Poirot showed subtlety and charm and happily, few of the affectation s he sometimes employed with his quarry and I think Rachael Stirling,as Caroline Crayle was first among equals.This show affected me greatly and won't soon be forgotten.

the novel name is driven from a nursery rhyme i read the book first year in colleague & i have to admit it's very enjoyable to watch specially when the script writers respected the original novel , one of my favorite poirots movies of all timeFIVE LITTLE PIGSis a story being repeated 5 times ( in many flashbacks) by the 5 people who were there 14 yrs ago on an island where a famous painter was poisoned , his wife trailed & executed latereveryone always thought his wife was guilty ,at the present time Lucy Crale (daughter of amyas the painter & his wife)asks poirot to help her discover the truth behind the mystery as she's very sure of her mother's innocence ( caroline ) poirot listens to the 5 witness Philip Blake (amyas's friend) , Meredith Blake (Philip Blake's brother)Elsa Greer (amyas's model & mistress but now she's become Lady Dittisham),Miss Williams (the governess), Angela (Caroline's younger sister) stories about the day of the murderfrom interigating miss William's the governess she confessed seeing caroline removing fingerprints off the bottle of beer that amyas was drinking from last & telling miss William's that amyas committed suicided but if he did ,why did she remove the finger prints when everyone saw her bringing the bottle to him & that she didn't tell the police back then about this coz she thought this would incriminate caroline more this is the key to the mystery coz caroline removed the fingerprints to whom she thought it belonged to the murderer but there is a the suspense & the surprise waiting at the end of the moving the Director Paul Unwin used yellowish screen to help viewers to separate between the flash backs & the present the director was not routine at all & handled the story in a very moral way without directing our minds into thinking the same way he didi have to mention the beautiful locations in which it was used , the sea was a beautiful back ground to a flashback scene with caroline in it .. the garden .. the beautiful terrace in the house of the painter .. the place near the river where amyas paints , even the rays of sun in the flashbacks down on the scenes were so appealing (strong photography )as for the actors Lucy the daughter i didn't think she was good as she should no spark in her eyes , amyas as womanizer painter he was perfect for the role , the best performance goes to the acting of Rachael Stirling (caroline) she's very remarkable in that role very strong & yet calm till the end ,Julie Cox ( Elsa) was good & vague a bit but very effective , the one who surprised me was Sophie Winkleman ( angela) she's very talented to the bones & i saw her in a previous miss marple episode called ( the moving finger)where she appeared prettier &had a bigger role but here she is stronger although with a less space on screen i cant forget to mention the theme music at the beginning and the ending very charming & enchanting puts you in the right mood in those old times i love that era back in time you'll enjoy the movie i m quite sure , it's a story about love ,a woman who love her husband to death & he loves her back to death too very charming drawing .. enjoyyy

'Five Little Pigs' could have been a tricky novel to dramatise. Most of it is set in the past and as a result there is little 'action' but this adaptation is very well done indeed. By this time, David Suchet IS the definitive Poirot and it's difficult to imagine anyone else playing him. The flashback sequences are beautifully handled and very atmospheric; the 'ageing' of the characters superbly done. Indeed, I have to admit to feeling very foolish to discover at the end that there were two different actresses playing young and older Angela - I was quite convinced it was one actress doing a really spectacular job - they looked SO alike! The cast is almost perfect I think except perhaps Aiden Gillen who (in my opinion) doesn't quite convey the magnetism and charisma of Amyas Crale - he's a bit ordinary. The modern Christie's (the new Poirots and the McEwen Marples) can be fairly criticised for overplaying the gay card and in this adaptation at least one of the 'Pigs' has been made into a gay character (it might be argued that Miss Williams' intense love and admiration for Caroline could constitute a second) but in this case I think it has done little harm and the central plot remains untouched. There is also an overly melodramatic finale but overall this remains one of the best of the Suchet Poirot films.