The actors here try too hard to flesh out roles that are little more than stock types.

[Kenneth Branagh] doesn't bring much new to the basic conception-a bunch of famous actors play eccentrics cooped up on a train, with secrets to be unearthed. But he does embellish the template with glossy extras.

There's something quaint and comforting about this film and its brand of old-fashioned storytelling, where coincidences are extremely likely, everyone somehow knows a countess, and a man puts honor above all else.

Not worth boarding, ‘ Murder on the Orient Express’ has a heck of a time investing audiences in its rather unengaging mystery.