Agatha (1979)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Lack of good storyline.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's a famous real life case. Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days in December 1926. For some, she never explained it convincingly and this is a fictional account of those days. Col. Archibald Christie (Timothy Dalton) asks his wife Agatha Christie (Vanessa Redgrave) for a divorce so that he can marry his secretary Nancy Neele. Agatha is under tremendous stress and desperate to keep her husband. When American reporter Wally Stanton (Dustin Hoffman) arrives at her doors for a scheduled interview, the colonel sends him away. Agatha's abandoned car is later found and the search is on.The fictionalization gives the scriptwriter a blank slate. It could have gone a million different ways from the outlandish to the poignant. This doesn't do much of anything and that is the most disappointing aspect. I don't care about Stanton or the Colonel or the search. I would love to follow only Agatha but she just spends her time at a spa. It's probably the least intriguing destination although it's fun to have her do research during her stay. I don't find her budding relationship with Stanton based on mutual lies that compelling. Despite the great acting power available, it's not until well into the second half before something interesting happens.

Go, instead, for the gorgeous theme music by Johnny Mandel (Emily, The Shadow of your Smile -theme from "The Sandpiper"-, A Time For Love,) which Paul Willians put words to after they titled it "Close Enough for Love." It has become a jazz standard and has been recorded by every worthwhile artist playing or singing jazz. It's one of Johnny Mandel's best efforts, and that's saying a LOT! Stan Getz has a very nice version (instumental, of course.) The lyrics are some of Paul Williams' best. Starts out, "You and I, an un-matched pair..." Not perfect, no, but "close enough, for love." Bittersweet words... I thought the music, alone was well worth the price of admission. I rented the movie as soon as it came out on VHS (this was 28 years ago(!), and made an audio cassette of the theme so I could learn to play it. Songs that good don't come along very often...

Until I saw "Agatha", I had never even heard of the story of Agatha Christie disappearing - or hiding - in 1926. The movie offers a possibility of what might have happened, portraying the author (Vanessa Redgrave) secretly checking into a health spa under a false name, while detective Wally Stanton (Dustin Hoffman) investigates.I will admit that this movie is nothing special. If anything, it's sort of just a way to pass time. But it is interesting not only learning about this part of history, but seeing this speculation of what might have happened (the movie reminds us that this is only speculation). The only other cast member whom I recognized was Timothy Dalton as Agatha's husband Archibald. Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but worth seeing nevertheless.

This film is about the "disappearance" of Agatha Christie in 1926. It matches what is known about this episode pretty well. What happened was that Mrs. Christie's husband was having an affair, and making little effort to hide it. Her car was found abandoned near a lake, with her ID and other possessions strewn about. She checked into a health spa under the surname of her husband's mistress for about eleven days. There was a big uproar in the press, and some of the spa's other guests noticed the likeness to Christie of the stranger there but she just laughed it off. When she returned she claimed amnesia, but no one believed that. She never spoke of the episode again, and it is not mentioned in her autobiography. (There is no evidence that her husband's mistress was at that spa.) At least the film says up-front that the story told is "speculation". In these times of historical fabrications by the likes of Oliver Stone and Steven Spielberg, that is a bit refreshing. Having said all that, this is an OK film. Vanessa Redgrave does her usual top-notch acting. It was fun seeing Dustin Hoffman Hitting on her, and dancing with her, him being at least six inches shorter.