Such a frustrating disappointment

Good movie but grossly overrated

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

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Hercule Poirot's secretary, Miss Lemon, has a sister, Florence Hubbard, who runs a university hostel in Hickory Road. During a visit, Mrs Hubbard informs Miss Lemon that there has a been a spate of robberies from the hostel of late. Miss Lemon suggests that Hercule Poirot investigate under the pretext of giving a talk to the students on crime solving. He does just that and uncovers some details. A few days later, Mrs Nicoletis, the owner of the hostel, is murdered. Poirot suspects that the robberies and the murder are linked. Aided by Chief Inspector Japp, he uncovers more than just robberies and a murder.Quite intriguing, with a seemingly unrelated parallel story having a great bearing on the case. Some good twists and turns with the murderer not obvious until the end.One of the standout features of this episode is the wonderful sub- plot involving Poirot and Japp and their culinary and cultural differences. Some quite funny scenes involving their rather diverse eating habits, and the contrast between the sophisticated Poirot and the more basic Japp.Cast includes Damian Lewis, later of Band of Brothers and Homeland fame, in only his second screen role. If the actor who plays Nigel Chapman reminds you of Colin Firth, that's because it's his brother, Jonathan Firth.

There is a great sense of style to this episode, and I particularly enjoyed the use of the nursery rhyme as incidental music (even if it is a bit heavy at times). Likewise the use of the mouse is quite good, although again it could have been used more sparingly for better effect (did he really need to be at the scene of every murder and in the 'reveal' sequence as well?). So these fun little add-ons I quite liked. One could extend that too, to include the throwaway comedy material about Japp being home alone and with rather simple tastes in food, décor and heating. All of these things I quite liked, but at the same time have to consider if they are not also part of the weakness with this episode too.The thing is, so far I have not really mentioned the actual story and that is probably because it is not particularly strong. It starts well, with the return of Miss Lemon and a link to a very odd series of minor thefts which is curious and had my interest from the start. Unfortunately the development of the mystery is not particularly well done; partly I think because the episode is so often the episode is more interested in the asides or the manner of delivery rather than the meat and potatoes business of delivering a good narrative in an effective manner (another irony since the joke is made of Japp's much, much simpler tastes – which include said foods). The mystery has enough force in the delivery to make it just about work in terms of the structure and style we are used to, but it didn't really hold me as it should have done, and I did think it rush to make up lost ground at the end, mainly so it could tie everything together in the usual final scene.The cast play with this the best they can, but again the best work seems to be reserved for Suchet and Jackson having comedic moments together. I liked this (despite the knock-on effects) although like the previous episode it did make me miss Hastings, where such interplay complimented the episode rather than distracting from it. Moran's return was nice and seemed more than just a plot device to link to the mystery, while the support cast are mostly interesting and well played (including a young Damien Lewis (although depressing to think of him looking almost as young 20 years later hanging around in Homeland).There are good aspects to this episode, but it must be said that they do tend to be on the sides and in the main body the narrative/mystery is not well delivered, with too much focus on the style and the supporting comedic material, rather than getting the mystery right and then building off and around this foundation. I enjoyed it for what I liked, but there was a lot here that really wasn't as well done as it needed to be.

In this episode of Poirot, "Hickory Dickory Dock," from season 6, Poirot offers to help Miss Lemon's sister, who runs a hostel. Objects are missing from the rooms, and some of them are strange: a shoe, a belt, a bracelet, a stethoscope - almost sounds like a scavenger hunt.One of the women living at the hostel, Celia, announces that she is a kleptomaniac. Poirot is told by a fellow student that it isn't true -- she was trying to attract a psychiatry major, so she stole things to be more interesting to him. Celia also says that she didn't steal everything but knows who the other culprit is. She then dies when someone puts morphine in place of a sleeping powder. That's the first murder. More to follow.It's an intriguing case which underlies a much bigger one that includes smuggling, hidden identities (several), and the murder of a statesman's wife ten years ago that has similarities to the current murders. Japp always held the statesman responsible for his wife's death; now he is dying in the hospital.the thief to the grave.Meanwhile, Japp's wife is out of town and he's a mess, so Poirot invites him to move in until his wife returns. Japp is then subjected to Poirot's idea of food and is mystified by the bidet. Very funny.Some of this mystery isn't hard to figure out if you've seen hundreds of this type of thing as I have, but it's still a good mystery with several layers. This isn't really an early episode, as it's from season 6, but it retains some of the first Poirots in its humor and the personality of Poirot. And that makes it fun to watch.

I have never seen a Poirot - film with David Suchet which can be decribed as bad in my lifetime (diagree with me if you want, but i think that "Death in The Clouds" wasn't very good - Suchet was on his normal heights and all the actors were OK, but the story and revelation of the killer just didn't catch my eye - i have actually forgot it already). This one is not the best of them all, but i still like it. Yep. I guessed WHO the killer was, but the background and motive was just that so-obvious-when-you-hear-it-but-you-still-never-guesses-it style of Agatha Christie i have learnt to love. If you for example must choose between this and some other Poirot (if it's not "Death in The Clouds") you should, in my opinion, choose the other. I still like it