eibhlinb
This looks like a low budget, whitewashed version where the producers were unfamiliar with the actual story or characters. Louise Penny has created a memorable group and place in Three Pines, but these actors are all 20 years younger and at least 40 lbs thinner than the characters they play, prettier, and entirely lacking in the qualities that make the characters memorable. Even Three Pines is all wrong - it's supposed to be off the beaten path, on a hard to find, unmarked, unpaved road, glimpsed from the top of a mountain as you descend into the valley below. Particularly awful are Clara, who's far younger than her Louise Penny character and lacks the insight and spontaneity of that character; Myrna, who's supposed to be a retired, 60-something, overweight black woman, who also lacks the compassion & experience that she's written with, and Gamache, who's ten years younger and a less imposing, authoritative or compassionate figure in every way. It's as if the GOP or Fox News were in charge of casting - everyone's got blow dried hair & bleached, capped teeth. Blech!
thebookoasis
As other reviewers have already mentioned the glaring casting errors, accent and general acting (or lack there of), I can't believe the production mistakes that got through. 1. Jane was clearly shot in through the left side of her chest, not through the heart as Nicholl stated. 2. When Beauvoir requested Gamache's weapon and badge, Gamache handed him the gun with the barrel pointing right at him. Procedure would have been to turn the gun and hand it over by the grip. 3. Ruth and Jane hardly looked like they could have been classmates. Ruth was at least well-cast even if poorly written. If there is ever a 2nd film I hope they do better in every aspect.
ogier-94935
If I had never read more of Louise Penney's books than Still Life, it might have been okay. As most of the reviewers have already said, casting was terrible. Not one of the characters (most especially Gamache and Clara) was right for the part, except Susanna Fournier as Agent Nichol. She actually got the part right. Too bad her role was so pathetic. The locale was terrible. The village was too big, the roads too well kept. Three Pines isn't even on a map, and no way would such a large village be as inbred as depicted in the books. My husband and I often joke about roles actors are offered by their agents. Patricia McKenzie's agent must have said "you'll be the only Black in the movie and you'll get to say 3 words, but oh honey, it's a great role". Why even put Myrna in the movie? Nathaniel Parker is about 20 years too young to play Gamache. Also too tall. Kate Hewlett was just very wrong as Clara. My husband kept asking why she was happy so quickly after her best friend was murdered. I could go on, but why torture myself remembering?
hf1934
All in all, an excellent movie, very enjoyable. I discount all the comments made by other reviewers that the cast is not as depicted in the book. All movie directors use literary licence to make changes. Louise Penny was the executive producer, and must have given her blessing. All the actors really performed very well.However .... 1. Jane's dog "Lucy" is definitely male, not female. 2. Agent Nicolle is called the french pronounciation at the beginning of the movie, but later her name is pronounced 'Nickle'. 3. The french intonations and accents are not consistent, but come and go. 4. The arrow that Clara sees embedded in the tree is black with small white fleches, but the arrow that Beauvoir removes from the tree is brown, is longer, and has large white fleches. hf1934.
AD
