Marple - Towards zero - 2006

It wasn't bad, although with too much things and people there's never a real chance for characters to get real: I couldn't "feel" for them: maybe just a little for Ted. The ending was awful, I so don't like that, terrible.
The story: a lot of people reunite at Gull's Point, Devon, in September. It's Lady Camilla Tressilian's (Eileen Atkins) house. Mary (Julie Graham) lives there because she has no money of her own. Famous tennis player Neville Strange (Greg Wise) who was raised by Camilla, goes with his second wife Kay (Zoe Tapper). His first wife Audrey (Saffron Burrows) is there too. Also, old friends Thomas (Julian Sands) and Mr Treves (Tom Baker). Miss Marple (Geraldine McEwan) knows Camilla since their school days. Ted Latimer (Paul Nicholls) is there too because Kay is there and he's totally in love with her. He stays at a hotel, like Marple and Treves.
Kay hates Audrey because she's jealous. Thomas loves Audrey.
Kay owns a beautiful black dress, quite beautiful. I don't care about the red one, but the black one is delightful.
Treves is the first to die. The "murderer" put a  "out of order" sign on the lift, so Treves went up the stairs and his very weak heart didn't make it. After that, Camilla is (clearly) killed, her head smashed. The inspector (Alan Davies, the one form QI, it seems like someone finally tamed his hair) finds lot of clues against Neville, but it seems like he has an alibi, then he finds clues against Audrey, but Marple has somehow figured out that Audrey has no hate for Neville because he did not leave her, she had left him before but he "took the blame". Then Marple involves the inspector in a little play in order to obtain a confession from the murderer. Before that, a few details:
1-it's up to Treves and Marple to quote the title: he says that things move, converging towards the zero hour, the murder at the end, towards zero. Treves remembers an old case, a child killing another child with an arrow because he felt he had been wronged. It was ruled an accident, but Treves is sure it was intentional, that the boy trained day after day planning the accident quite carefully, and he would recognize that boy even now, all grown up. 2-the inspector knows Marple's reputation, because colonel Melchett spoke of her :-p 3-Miss Marple can draw nice portraits, her talents never end 4-I liked how Marple kept stopping the inspector giving him all her thoughts, wanted or not, only to end with "please, do not let me detain you" 5-Camilla was fun, and she says about Marple: "no doubt she'll be poking her nose in everywhere, she was just the same at school" :-p She also says "with any luck I'll be dead by September :lol: well, wish 'almost' granted. 6-quite realistic and yet a bit annoying, how everyone is mistaken in judging the others: everyone believing Neville could never do anything so bad, because he's such a sporty character; Kay believing Audrey to be after Neville, and Camilla disliking Kay for breaking Audrey and Neville's marriage: "I blame her entirely", and also everybody believing Audrey to be heartbroken because of the divorce. 7-not one but two almost-suicide-scenes: first Marple thought Neville wanted to kill himself but he didn't: "I've always tended to stand too near the edge", and then Neville stops Audrey from killing herself, I guess this was too easy a death. 8-Ted and Kay together were just so lovely; did he ever propose? because she was extremely fond of him, she clearly loves her "Teddy".
Now to the end, having Audrey arrested and taken away, then taking the others on a boat trip. Marple says that someone saw the murderer: he swam back and forth and used a rope to reach Camilla's room. Thomas has one arm, Ted can't swim (and Marple pushes him in the water to prove that. Nobody said a word but Kay shouted enough for everyone :-p ) which leaves only Neville. They provoke a reaction, saying that they went along with his silly attempt at deception while laughing all the time and Marple adds that he thought he was being so clever when in fact he was "rather stupid", and this cracks him: "stupid? stupid? it was the perfect plan" and this is the beginning of one of the worst speeches I can think of right now. So over the line, so fake and (to me) unemotional, plus he should have played it angry, not whining. Maybe they did it to connect with the other story, to show that he was still the same boy that could not forgive any wrong done to him, I don't know, but I so didn't like to see him whining like a baby "wééé she dared leave me wééé you've got to hang her wééé" it was terrible. I did not like it one bit.
The end sees Audrey in Thomas' arms, which is not so flattering for him: her husband a murderer and his brother dead, he's the only one left. I did not like Thomas, here. I should have, I felt all the time, but I didn't. Like Neville, I didn't like the way they spoke. Audrey's laugh at the end is quite charming and lovely. I like the girl with the dog Donald; I didn't get her name, but I liked her, and Mary too.
Another scene I didn't like was the one when Neville gives the magazine to Audrey, not Kay. That scene was in the book too, it's how he acted it that I don't like. Why did he have that "come on you annoying thing take it if you want it" attitude towards Audrey? That's so wrong. He chose to give it to her. I would have liked it somehow more natural, softly.

 ITA verso l'ora zero