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Dame Agatha Christie really did disappear for 11 days in December of 1926. Vanessa Redgrave really did decline being named a "Dame" in 1999. Somehow, these choices two very talented British women made during the 20th century seem similar. "Agatha" is portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave, during that time when the murder mystery author, Christie, apparently chose to vanish out of sight. Redgrave played this leading role immediately following being awarded the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for portraying author, Lillian Hellman's best friend & WWII revolutionary, "Julia" (1979). This film offers what can only be called a "speculative account" of Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance. As this film will have it, the woman who was known as the "Queen of Crime" becomes involved in a plot to avenge an adulterous romance & an attempt to commit suicide, while the rest of the nation, if not the Western world, scrambles to find her. This fictional account depicts Christie being distressed by living in a dispassionate marriage that brews up to her husband, Col. Archibald Christie (Timothy Dalton), requesting a divorce. The Colonel's timing imposes more stress upon Christie since her mother died just before making it known to his wife that he wants out. Thus, Agatha Christie (Redgrave) retreats to Harrogate, a 'spa town' in North Yorkshire. Wally Stanton (Dustin Hoffman), an American reporter who writes for a British newspaper, locates Agatha & recognizes that she's in need of help. And so, he proffers it. Agatha uses her maiden name & pretends to be a widow who's just come back from South Africa. However, her true colors emerge when she plots revenge, crime writer style, after the Colonel's mistress show up in Harrogate. Therefore, the last part of the film is devoted to its thriller aspects. Vanessa Redgrave portrays a deeply troubled woman who maintains her dignity by escaping the public's scrutiny while she's in crisis. Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of the journalist is hard hitting on the media. Helen Morse plays Evelyn Crawley, a woman who becomes close to Christie. Her perspective on men, in general, seems likely a balm to cure what is most likely ailing the mystery writer who's been jilted. Timothy West offers a nice contrast to Crawley's damnation of men, as Deputy Chief Constable Kenward, who, although not quite up to speed, aptly overcomes Colonel Christie's ugly efforts to halt the manhunt for the wife he no longer wants. The settings and cinematography for this film reveal the right kind of uppity British classism, as well as gorgeous landscapes of the spa town. In all, it's a classy collaborative effort made to attempt to explain the mystery of the disappearing mystery writer~Read full review
A rather dark but moving account of what could have occurred during the days Agatha Christie was reported as missing. Dustin Hoffman quietly portrays a writer with deep understands of what is below the surface of the character of Mrs. Christie as portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave. Their relationship is imbued with human frailties. It is a bit of a thriller as one waits to see what the final outcome will be in this script, as what actually happened in life is still a mystery. Well worth watching more than once, the entire look of the movie compliments the story line and the additional actors do a fine job in the roles of essential characters.
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