Ellen Hosafros

Still Life, A Three Pines Mystery is but a shadow of Louise Penny books’ beautiful characters, scenery and literary writing. In fact, it’s nothing but a bad Hallmark movie. Ruth Zardo is portrayed like Granny on the old Waltons TV show, a shame given that in the books she’s a complex, acid-tongued genius poet and a pure joy to read. While the producers use a Black actor to play Myrna, she looks and acts nothing like the enormously (no pun intended) commanding character in the novels, nor is she allowed to speak in the film. Peter and Clara Morrow are Ken and Barbie with pulses; there is nary a crumb, a streak of oil paint, or tangle in Clara’s perfect hair. She could he an insurance agent or a librarian; there isn’t a trace of the insecure painter on the verge of discovery. How else is this movie an abomination? Let me count the ways: The setting is wrong, the accents are wrong, and while notable actors appear on screen, the acting is mostly wooden and sleep-inducing. So one can conclude that the directing is wrong, too. The villain actually emits an evil laugh, twice…I wanted to slap my TV to make him stop. (Insert eye-rolling emoji here). There are moments of grace, however few: Reine-Marie actually has a Quebec accent and correctly pronounces her name, and Nichols is portrayed closer to how she appears in the novels. Alas, while Quebec is as important a character as Armand Gamache, the province is missing in action in the movie. (Merde!) I’m hoping the upcoming Amazon series based on Louise Penny’s novels will do them, and her, more justice. Penny is a gifted writer and storyteller but this movie is a dud.