Such a frustrating disappointment

So much average

Overrated and overhyped

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

opposite of hallmark movies in a sense that in its entirety it will not make you feel good nor gratified for watching both episodes. it will end up making you depressed hence the opposite of hallmark movies they at least will give you a satisfaction and will offer you a warm-hearted fake good company. one point for the unexpected twist, one point for the entertainment, one point for acting. kim catrall however cannot deliver an English accent, the elaborate scheme is not very believable not to mention the maid's confession that made no sense and overall coldness and misery of the lawyers wife and the girlfriends characters including the ending just didn't gratify my spent time.

If you are going to produce an Agatha Christie play - at least have the decency to keep some resemblance to the original. This was so way off the mark it could have been called The Murder of Madame X or maybe A Month in the life of John Mayhew - and probably no one would have watched it. I hope that Sarah Phelps who adapted this abomination never again gets the chance to destroy what could have been an excellent production. This mini series (as they billed it) seems to go on and on and on - and in almost every scene we are tortured by the hacking cough of Toby Jones. (Mayhew) The scenes get darker and darker, there is no 'build up to a climax' and when the climax should happen the dreary thing drags on for another half an hour. There are no surprises, no courtroom repartee, there is nothing. I thought the performances were also mediocre. I usually like Toby Jones - but he seemed to be almost 'reading his script' as he went through - the other cast members were really no better. And the direction - well the less said the better. But really 90% of the blame goes to Sarah Phelps for her atrocious interpretation of an excellent story.I have given this more thought since writing my original review and am now convinced that this has got to be the most disappointing piece of television I have ever seen. It has also got to be one of the worst BBC shows I have ever had the misfortune to watch.

One word sums it up - terrible. I don't know what's more shocking - the silly "reviewers" here who have never seen or read any iteration of Witness for the Prosecution, i.e. the people who like this monstrosity because they have no history and don't even know what the story, play, or subsequent film versions were about, or the fact that legitimate British reviewers heaped praise on this thing.So, let's just start at the beginning. You want to have the chutzpah to call something Agatha Christie's The Witness for the Prosecution, then don't make up the majority of the movie so that it has nothing to do with Agatha Christie. Sarah Phelps, shame on you - Ms. Christie doesn't need your dreary help and you can't even walk in her footsteps let alone her shoes. The teleplay is dreadful - all the additions are moronic. You know, I have no problem with this soap opera story but don't call it Agatha Christie or The Witness for the Prosecution just because you keep Ms. Christie's central plot element. This isn't going back to the short story, this is a whole NEW story and it's not a good story at that. The only thing that works is the twenty minutes or so of the trial. It just goes on and on, one dreadfully dull scene after another, filled with whispery acting and the awful coughing of Toby Jones (bronchitis we finally learn) - I don't blame him for coughing, mind you, given the amount of smoke they're pumping into every single shot and scene. It's not the 90s anymore, kids. And yes, the green - it's like watching Saw or something. Agatha Christie didn't write horror stories, you know. It's so dark and ugly and ineptly directed. Kim Cattrall is embarrassing in this as is her character, which has little to do with Ms. Christie's Emily French. The big finish doesn't happen where it should, the courtroom, because once the verdict happens the film goes on and on for yet another thirty minutes. The big finish occurs in France and then after that the film goes on and on for another fifteen minutes because this movie isn't about Leonard Vole or Emily French or Romaine Vole, it's about John Mayhew - sorry, does not compute, I don't care about the character and all his and his wife's angst - this is not Agatha Christie, this is Days of our Lives. I got the Blu-ray of this because of the reviews - fool me once, but never again.

In many parts it is 9/10, but in others 2/10.I haven't read the book and, though I'm sure I have, I don't remember seeing other versions. Firstly and primarily this very very slow and plodding. The story is there, watchable and interesting but the scenes are so overly stretched out that they've gone beyond art and into boredom. So, if you like slow moving stories steeped with brilliantly astute and deep vignettes on life, garnished with an excellent but dark period drama, you will love this.The acting is generally very good as is the period feel. The cold reality of life, especially due to the war, imparts the darkness. The twists and turns of the plot are very good, except the final twist of the crime story, which leaves you feeling the whole rest of the story was just 'camera tricks' (as in magic shows) to mislead us. It felt like a big con. The whodunnit part is maintained well throughout.The poignant imprints of war on life are genius, especially the generational statement at the end, but the time spent on them turns parts of this more into an Alan Bennett play than a crime thriller.