Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery (2013)

How can a movie be so terribly miscast? Not one character even remotely resembled the characters in the books. How could Ms. Penny allow such a travesty? Maybe she should influence a movie like J.K. Rowling, who most certainly can give her a lesson on influence casting and bringing characters to life. Why does a movie like that need to look as it was just made for the Lifetime channel? I was truly hoping for getting to know the book characters, however they were just pretty people (except for Ruth Zardo, who was the only one I would say OK) speaking to stiff and to flat. There was no life in any of them. Nathaniel Parker, I really liked in the Inspector Linley series, is just not a French Canadian inspector. This would have (with the right cast) been better as a mini series, where all the quirkiness of the Three Pines Characters could be better flushed out.

Storyline was fine, but there are amazing characters in these books, and their witty repertoire is key to capturing the heart of Three Pines. Instead, they looked like a bunch of crazy (and thinner than expected) extras. There was also lack of character development in Armande's team. Beauvoir and Lacoste were bland background characters.This, and other Louise Penny mysteries could (AND SHOULD) be made into a series. There is enough wit and mystery to carry a single novel through a short season, and allow for the long term characters to grow on you.

What a disappointment, Inspector Lynley goes to Quebec and is still having problems with his wife.Having read most of Louise Penny's books based in the Province of Quebec I expected the dialogue to be in English but English as spoke by a Francophone in Quebec. I have grown weary of Inspector Lewis, Miss Marple, Poirot, etc. based in upper class English settings. The Chief Inspector Gamache series is much more interesting based in Quebec with all of the Francophone influences. Surely there are enough English speaking Francophone actors in Canada to fill out the roles. Even the actor playing Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvoir is apparently fluent in French, wow, couldn't come up with an accent.What a shame that none of the Quebec atmosphere survived the film making. Just another English who done it.

Boy was I looking forward to seeing that rootless Ruth! Where was that mean machine in the movie? The characters lacked character all together. Way too reserved! And I could barely make out what Gamache was mumbling. Thanks for trying! I know it is a hard task to make a movie from a book especially when their are so many great characters. And Penny's writing gives us many opportunities to feel each one of them. This could be hard to achieve in one TV movie based on one book of her Gamache series. But I know that I would watch a Gamache TV series if they promised to dig deeper into the characters. Show some expressions and presence on that TV screen!Lets see that rootless Ruth in action!